Best Laid Plans
by dfastback68
Summary: Pre-ROTF. Demolisher arrives on Earth too late, and Sideways brings with him more trouble than he's worth. This story is now complete!
1. Chapter 1

_Northern Germany_

Fire ripped across the night sky, blinding stars and deafening nearby wildlife. Only a few humans witnessed the meteor hurtling to the earth, but it passed far beyond them and their homes. The sound of its impact did not reach their ears for several moments, the distance between them causing interest to wane somewhat. The few locals that decided to check it out would later report nothing but an empty, smoking crater. Another urban legend began that night, speculation ranging from UFOs to solar flares to global warming to government conspiracies.

To the newly arrived Cybertronian, speculation was focused on the pursuit of more practical concerns. It took far longer than was safe for him to locate and scan a suitable alt mode, even once he moved into a more technologically inclined neighborhood. Most Earth vehicles were small, proportional to the organics that operated them. While searching, he picked up multiple radio signals, sensors brushing against Wi-Fi and following that until he found something useful: the internet. Satellites repositioned themselves in his favor, allowing him to access a grand network of information and aerial images. It did not take him long to track down a coal mine that was home to the sort of heavy machinery his mass demanded.

In the dead of the night, a massive excavator rumbled down the small roads, keeping its distance from residential areas. It did not stop until it found an isolated location, engine dying with a thunderous snarl. Demolisher sent a signal bouncing across the satellites, and waited for an answer that did not come.

* * *

It took one week before Demolisher's not-so-saintly patience ran out. Not one word. Not a single word from any Decepticon, planetside or otherwise. He was beginning to doubt there any more Decepticons on Earth, though it was obvious the Autobots were still skulking around. The Constructicon only received a brief acknowledgment from Scrapper, relaying that they would not follow him to Earth given the lack of activity. Demolisher could not understand it; this dirtball had been a hot spot not two months ago, and now _nothing_.

Where had everyone gone?

* * *

Another week was spent traveling the southern back roads from Hamburg to Hannover. If it weren't for the obvious presence of the Autobots on this planet, he would have left already. All he had to go on were vague orders from Blackout, and his silence bothered the Constructicon. While Starscream was prone to bouts of mutinous pouting and Soundwave put his contacts on a long waiting list, Blackout was never one to leave his soldiers hanging. The last he'd heard, the Cube had been tracked to this backwater planet, and the Autobots had figured it out as well.

Finally, _finally_, a Decepticon answered his call. The response he received, however, was less than enthusiastic.

"_What do you want_?" Barricade was not exactly known for being friendly, but his harsh tone still surprised the excavator. It was angry, bitter, biting, hateful, impatient, annoyed, hurt – Demolisher could exhaust every synonym in every language he knew and still his analysis of the hunter's disposition would be incomplete. He did not hesitate in responding, in case the fractious 'Con decided to shut the connection and ignore him again.

"_I don't know, some information may be?_" Demolisher snarled in response. "_I've been trying to get a hold of someone for over a slagging week. What's happened here_?"

"_Megatron's dead, the Allspark was destroyed, and Starscram's out of his mind,_" Barricade said at once. "_Good enough for you_?"

"_No_," Demolisher said. Knowing Megatron had perished was beyond disappointing, but he wasn't going to let his shock of the Allspark's destruction bleed into his tone. For the time being, he shoved that depressing revelation to the darkest corner of his memory banks. "_I received orders from Blackout to assist on Earth_."

"_My, aren't you timely_," Barricade growled, continuing quickly before Demolisher had the chance to rebuke him. "_Blackout's body was taken by the humans, along with Megatron, Brawl and Bonecrusher. I have no idea where they've taken them, and whatever Blackout wanted you for is clearly irrelevant now_."

"_So what am I supposed to do then_?"Demolisher was talking to himself more than Barricade, but the interceptor snorted from across their link.

"_I would suggest contacting Starscream, if he'll answer,_" the Mustang said, bitterness edging in over all the other descriptors of his tone. "_Or don't_. _Either way, I don't care as long as you stay out of my way. Where are you, anyways_?"

"_Germany_," Demolisher said, hoping Barricade was nearby so he could flatten the cheeky little slagger.

"_Not only are you two months too late, but you're also on the wrong continent_," Barricade said dryly. "_It's a good thing no one was counting on you._"

"_Funny_," Demolisher growled. "_Where are the Autobots_?"

"_California_," the hunter replied flatly, the sudden absence of emotion throwing the excavator off. "_At the moment there are only four of them: Optimus Prime, Ratchet, Ironhide and Bumblebee. Be warned that they are working _very _closely with the American military."_

"_What happened to the Cube_?" Demolisher could not stop himself from asking, ignoring the sudden shift in Barricade's tone at the name of the yellow scout. Intolerance, hatred, spite, and so much more packed into one little word, it was a wonder the hunter didn't catch himself on fire with his own fury.

"_A human child shoved it into Megatron's spark_," Barricade said, keeping his voice neutral again. With his words came a sudden burst of data packets, and Demolisher sorted through them, instantly learning the life and times of one Samuel James Witwicky. _Child_ did not seem to accurately describe such a young creature, one that would die in the time it took a Cybertronian to make a casual stroll around the solar system.

"_And the others_?" Demolisher asked, storing the information somewhere near the file of the Cube's destruction. He didn't want to think about a human that was younger than two decades had done something like _that_.

"_They were killed in battle_," Barricade said, and this time the hurt crept through more strongly than the Construction thought the hunter intended. It was just as painful to hear, however. No heroics, no awe inspiring story or tale of bravado or gory details of Autobot death. Just _killed in battle_, and that was the end of Megatron's most loyal officer, a cunning tactician, and one of the most fearsome warriors in their ranks. "_Are you done pestering me now_?"

The hunter was back to being sharp and brittle, not wanting to linger on the subject of how much they had lost in the course of one battle.

"_I highly doubt Starscream is going to answer me if I contact him_," Demolisher said. "_So-_"

"_Get your orders from someone else, Demolisher_," the other 'Con interrupted him. "_I've got my own orders, and they don't include managing _you_._"

Demolisher was not surprised in the least when the connection was violently closed, though he did wonder why Barricade was so much moodier. He was impossible to understand on a good day, but being the only Decepticon left on Earth after all that would strain anyone's resolve. Demolisher figured his only option at this point would be to relay his situation to Scrapper once again, and hope his superior would be faster to get him some direction.

Until then, he would lie low on Earth. He did not fully trust Barricade, even though the other 'Con had no noticeable motivation to lie about Megatron or the Allspark. He also did not trust Starscream, and Scrapper might decide to use him to do some digging on the events that happened two months prior. Barricade was a practiced liar, but Scrapper would believe anything another Constructicon reported back to him. As boring as it was, Demolisher resigned himself to hiding, staying off the radar and merely observing.

Even if he'd been too late to help Megatron or save the Allspark, he'd be damned before he let the Autobots gain another victory as terrible as that.

* * *

Something was coming. Long range scanners flared to life with enough force that Demolisher was roused from his recharge cycle. It was coming in fast, from beyond the atmosphere of the planet, and was broadcasting a Cybertronian signal loud and clear. Of course, the message itself was encrypted, despite being heard by anyone who was listening. Given their relationship with the American military, he had no doubt the Autobot's human allies heard them coming, so he would have to move fast.

Fully awake now, Demolisher tracked its approach with interest, if only because it would likely land not too far north of Numburg. If it was an Autobot, he could deal with them easily before any of its friends could reach them. With any luck, it was a Decepticon that he didn't despise or loathe too deeply that was bringing orders. He was, however, not optimistic. He'd been lounging about in Germany for the better part of three weeks now, and it wasn't doing any wonders for his general disposition.

Activating his very flimsy holoform, the excavator started his engine and began to lumber away from the mining site he'd chosen to nap in. A few of the working humans looked up at him surprise, but seeing a driver in the cab put them at ease again. Plotting the newcomers trajectory, Demolisher guessed he would arrive about an hour after the Cybertronian landed. That didn't give him a good chance of catching an Autobot off guard, but it was a welcome challenge. Whoever it was, their arrival would entertain him, one way or another.

* * *

Demolisher stuck to the back roads, skirting around the landing spot of the Cybertronian. A black smoke plume rose in the air, and the whine of sirens could be heard even at his distance. The excavator opened up his connection to the internet, at the same time skimming the local news channels. It was creating such a buzz that Demolisher worried it would quickly reach the international news feed. He knew better than to try and tamper with the news websites, as it would draw the Autobots to him in a sparkbeat.

Finding a relatively secluded spot, he killed his engine and waited, scanners on full alert. It would be a small miracle if the newcomer could get out of that city center unnoticed by humans. Smoke continued to rise, and Demolisher realized a building, or several, had been set ablaze from the impact. He had no sympathy for humans structures; they were built from shoddy, flammable and biodegradable materials. What else did they expect to happen?

Much to his surprise, the excavator did not have to wait long before a signal flared across his scanners. It was quick, and obviously unintentional. The signal blipped several more times, telling him the Cybertronian was either terrible at masking himself, or his systems were damaged. The excavator ambled down the roads again, following the erratic signal as it wormed its way through the interior of the city. When it came through steady, its motions were stop and go, and Demolisher figured whoever it was really _was_ injured. That sort of behavior indicated they were having a difficult time moving themselves.

He thought as much until he came to a major intersection, where he quickly pulled himself off the road. A tremendous traffic jam had been created by the motorists attempting to exit the city, horns blaring and humans swearing out their windows. A quick listen to the police scanners told him the fires were burning quicker than anticipated, and parts of the town were being evacuated. Doubling back before a police officer thought about questioning his bizarre presence, Demolisher kept a sensor on the new Cybertronian. Caught up in traffic, he would have nowhere to go but out of the city if he had an ounce of intelligence.

Pulling out of view as best he could, Demolisher waited once again. The signal popped in and out, but they were moving with traffic towards the intersection he was monitoring. Any detours or side roads had been blocked off by the police, or were one-way streets clogged with more evacuees. As the Cybertronian grew closer, Demolisher began to watch for duplicate vehicles, which proved easier than he wanted. Many humans chose identical models, with some variation in colors and features. He had to look for finer details: matching license plates, same cracked headlight, or even something as simple as a discreet faction symbol.

It finally arrived with with a few glaring clues. The first silver Mercedes stood out among the mass of bland middle class vehicles, shining under the sunlight as its owner swore into his cellular phone. The second Mercedes was a bit dusty on the sides, but bore a license plate that matched the first. The dark windows could not hide the driver in the first car from Demolisher, but they did hide the _empty_ drivers seat in the second car from humans. Even as he watched, the signal burst from the Mercedes as it accelerated, dying when the silver car had to put on the brakes.

Whoever it was did not know they were broadcasting so obviously, and Demolisher could feel another Cybertronian presence crawling across the local Wi-Fi. He kept himself silent and shut away, watching the original Mercedes make a left turn and speed off in the opposite direction. It was nothing but pure luck, Demolisher assumed, that the copy Mercedes turned right, heading straight for him. The little silver car put on some speed once it was free of traffic, panels on its roof flashing under the sun. _Solar panels, _Demolisher realized. _But what does he need them out for _now?

The Constructicon did not wait until the Mercedes was close to start moving, cutting off another motorist to head off the silver car. The new mech was not paying attention to the road at all, completely caught off guard by the massive mining machine that was suddenly in front of it. Swerving to avoid a collision, the silver Mercedes jumped the curb, sparks grinding off its undercarriage. Pulling a hard left, it dropped back onto the road, tires burning as it came to a stop on the other side of Demolisher.

"Watch where you're going!" the silver car, with no visible driver, shouted up at him. Demolisher's holoform looked down at him impassively, ignoring an irritated honk from another motorist.

"_You ought to watch where you land_," Demolisher shot back over the radio, and the silver car suddenly threw itself into reverse. The excavator was having none of it, rolling forward to close the distance between them. The Mercedes swung around, though it did not take off. "Name and faction, before I flatten you."

"Sideways," the silver Mercedes said at once. He drove forward, though he was being herded by the larger excavator. "Decepticon, I'm a Decepticon! You don't have to flatten me!"

"I don't _have_ to," Demolisher growled, engine revving to reinforce his point. "But I _can_. Especially after a landing like that – the Autobots will be swarming this area in no time."

"Are – are there a lot of Autobots here?" Sideways asked, driving forward despite the massive excavator riding his bumper. The little silver car allowed himself to be herded, as Demolisher wanted them away from the city center as quickly as possible. "Do you know which ones?"

It was the way Sideways said it, a sort of hopeful, suspiciously eager tone, that put Demolisher on edge. "All I know is Optimus Prime is on this planet," he lied, thinking the Autobot leader's name would strike the fear of Primus into any Decepticon. "There are about three or four others. Why, did you come here to _see_ one of them?"

"No," Sideways said so quickly that Demolisher's suspicion deepened even further. "Are there any other Decepticons?"

"Besides me? Just Barricade," Demolisher said disdainfully. Although he had begun to think there was at least one or two more, seeing as most higher ups did not typically count drones as a whole soldier. Until he proved that, however, he was sticking with Barricade as his only other ally. "Megatron, Blackout, Bonecrusher and Brawl were all dead before I got here, so I never got my orders from Blackout."

"I heard Starscream was back on Cybertron, so he made it out?" Sideways was close to getting run over, as he was no good at driving and talking at the same time apparently. Demolisher revved his engine so the Mercedes got the idea, and the silver car sped up, putting a few more feet between them.

"Yes, _Lord_ Starscream made it out," Demolisher said, snarling the word _Lord_. "Why are you here, anyways?"

"Oh, uh, I received orders from Blackout, too," Sideways said, and Demolisher wondered if the Mercedes thought he was a complete idiot. The Constructicon was by no means a genius, but that didn't make him a moron either. Unfortunately, the excavator had already made a mistake by mentioning his lack of knowledge concerning Blackout's orders. That had given the Mercedes a back door, flimsy as it may be.

"Is that so," Demolisher said lowly, making his doubt rather obvious. "And what, exactly, is your function?"

"Courier," Sideways said, without a hint of hesitation, embarrassment or apprehension. Most Decepticons dropped the title of their previous careers and went with something more menacing like 'shock trooper' or 'ground assault'. While their faction had its roots in the military, many 'Cons, like the Autobots, had been civilians at one time. He didn't know what Sideways was trying to achieve by still calling himself a courier, but it didn't make him sound very useful.

"Blackout thought he'd mail a letter to Cybertron, then?" Demolisher turned off onto a dirt road, and Sideways was quick to speed around to catch up to him.

"I don't know what he wanted," Sideways replied somewhat defensively. If the Mercedes wasn't so obviously intimidated by the Constructicon, his tone might have had some weight to it. "Where are we going anyways?"

"Someplace where I can transform and beat the truth out of you," Demolisher said simply, vastly amused as the Mercedes' engine sputtered.

"I'm not lying," the silver Con said meekly. Despite coming off as something of a wimp, his pliant disposition was a vast improvement over Barricade's caustic mood. "I'm not."

"Whatever," Demolisher said dismissively, knowing that would leave the smaller 'Con shaking in fearful apprehension. He wouldn't _really _try to beat it out of him, unless the Mercedes proved to be that much of a nuisance. Sometimes all he had to do was sound like he was serious, and the smaller ones buckled without so much as a raised hand. The sun hit Sideways' solar panels, light dancing across Demolisher's side and irritating his dermal sensors. "What's with the solar panels?"

"I'm just low on Energon, is all," Sideways said, sounding relieved to be on another subject. "I was in space a long time, so -"

"I don't need your life story," Demolisher cut him off. The last thing he needed was a chatty Decepticon, no matter how annoying Barricade's silence was. "Right now our only orders are to lie low and monitor the Autobots and their human allies. Unless you've got a message to the Autobots that says 'Die', stay in sight and don't contact anyone."

"Okay," Sideways said, following close behind the excavator as he led them further from civilization.

"Which reminds me," Demolisher went on, feeling Sideways' signal strengthen as he accelerated. "Your field dampeners aren't working. Every time you speed up, I imagine they could detect you all the way from Cybertron."

Rocks and dirt flew up into the air as Sideways laid on the brakes, his position suddenly dropping from Demolisher's radar. The excavator slowed down, but did not stop, watching as the Mercedes idled in the middle of the road. When the silver car started forward again, he remained invisible.

"Don't know how that happened," Sideways muttered, clearly upset that he had been so exposed. The Constructicon did not reply, instead leading them further south, away from the city and further into rural areas. They drove in silence for several miles, before everything else Demolisher had said seemed to sink into the Mercedes' processor. "Megatron's dead?"

"Yes," Demolisher said, nearly failing at keeping his disappointment hidden. "A human boy called Samuel James Witwicky pushed the Cube into his spark, destroying them both."

The Constructicon expected anguish, or shock or horror at the revelation that had more than ruined his day. What he did not expect was for the Mercedes to slew off the road and drive into a ditch full of muddy water.

"Get out of there," Demolisher chastised the smaller 'Con, whose engine spluttered at being doused in the filthy liquid. Sideways' rear tires tried to pull him out, but there merely spun in the mud. "_Now_."

"Destroyed?" Sideways repeated, gaining a few inches before sliding right back down into the ditch.

"Yes, now get out of there," Demolisher was getting sick of the sudden echo, but he was also getting anxious. "Humans live out here, do you want them to find you?"

"I think I'm stuck," Sideways replied, rear tires having made quickly deepening ruts by now. "And a _human_ did this?"

"_Yes_," Demolisher growled, losing whatever patience he already didn't possess. Lashing out with his shovel, he hooked the edge of it under Sideways' bumper, eliciting a yelp from the Mercedes. Hauling the shovel backwards, the silver 'Con came sloshing out of the ditch and was dumped back onto the road with as little care as possible. Bouncing on his shocks, Sideways' engine rumbled as the water flooded out of it. Certain everything was working properly, he sped off after Demolisher, who was already leaving him in the dust.

"Thanks," the silver 'Con said, headlights flicking on and off once as well.

"Don't let it happen again," Demolisher rumbled, knowing he wasn't going be at ease until they were far from human eyes. He was paranoid that someone had seen them from their house, and it was very unusual behavior for an excavator to be lifting sports cars out of ditches. His curiosity apparently sated, Sideways remained silent for the remaining hours they spent on the road. It wasn't until they had pulled off into a more private chunk of forest that the Mercedes began expressing more of his quirks.

"It's getting kind of dark out, isn't it?" Sideways asked, his solar panels tilted in the direction of the rapidly sinking sun.

"Yes," Demolisher said, engine dying with a thankful whine as he powered his systems down for the coming night. The days on this planet were pathetically short, but he was beginning to get used to them.

"How long do lunar cycles last on this planet?" the Mercedes pressed, headlights flickering for no reason that the Constructicon could discern.

"Lunar cycles are not night cycles on this planet," Demolisher replied. "Depending on the latitude and longitude, and the season, the time varies. Here, once the sun sets, it won't rise for another nine hours."

"Nine hours," Sideways repeated the two words, sounding worried. Demolisher was not so annoyed by his repeating habit as he was by Sideways' sudden fear of the dark. "Why does the time vary? Can we go somewhere with a shorter night cycle?"

"Polar regions experience six months of sunlight, and six months of night, given the tilt of the Earth in relation to the sun," demolisher explained, feeling weary. "Right now, the northern pole is in its six month sun cycle."

There was silence for all of ten seconds, before Sideways asked: "Can we go there?"

"No," Demolisher said with such finality that _surely_ it would silence the Mercedes.

"So once the sun sets, is there any residual solar energy -" Sideways only got so far before Demolisher cut him off.

"Do I look like a slagging almanac to you?" the Constructicon exploded, causing the silver 'Con to reverse several feet away from him. "Connect to the internet and look it up yourself!"

"I can't," Sideways replied, though his tone was very quiet and subdued. "It – it's not working."

"Liar," Demolisher growled. "I could feel you browsing through the internet on your way out of the city!"

"But I wasn't!" Sideways yelped in his defense. "I was trying to access it but I couldn't!"

Demolisher was deathly silent, and Sideways feared for a moment he was going to transform and shoot him after all.

"The sun will be back in nine hours," Demolisher said as evenly as he possibly could. "I don't want to see you until then."

Sideways didn't have to be told twice, quickly reversing and speeding away from the sulking excavator. He stayed within scanner range, but out of view, which was more than enough for Demolisher. The Construction almost, _almost_, wished he were still dealing with Barricade, and not this chatty little glitch.

* * *

At half past three in the morning, Demolisher found his recharge cycle interrupted once again. This time it was a sound that roused him, one that was not cataloged along with the hundreds of normal Earth noises he'd gotten used to. Nocturnal animals certainly did make a racket to something that could hear an Insecticon drop a mile away. A low, ultrasonic keen echoed through the night, grating on his nerves as much as it set him on edge. It lasted for about 20 seconds before dying off, followed by a light, repetitive clicking.

Demolisher listened; something scuffled in the dirt near where Sideways had slunk off, stilling after a moment. Almost as soon as it had stopped, another keen drifted out from the between the trees, though this one was shorter. It was too absurd to think that Sideways _was_ afraid of the dark, but the noises were definitely coming from him. Without saying anything, Demolisher opened a comm channel between them, giving Sideways a chance to explain himself first. When the Mercedes failed to say or do anything, the Constructicon decided to press the issue.

"_What are you doing_?"

"_Nothing_," Sideways was at least quick to reply, but his vocalizer was strained, as if it were an effort to speak even over the radio. "_Leave me alone_."

Demolisher complied, closing the channel without much ado. Sideways remained silent for the rest of the night.

* * *

As soon as the sun spilled over the horizon the next morning, Sideways was already front and center with his solar panels flared out. Demolisher said nothing to him as he basked in the sunlight, though he was still curious about whatever it was that had happened several hours prior. Checking his usual news feeds and sources, the Constructicon found suspicious traces of Autobot meddling focusing on Germany. It would be foolish to think Sideways' arrival had gone unnoticed, so he felt it best that they leave the country. There were other American military outposts he could spy on to get the information he needed.

Only once Sideways seemed to be convinced he was fully charged did Demolisher inform him of his plans.

"We're heading East," he explained, keeping a careful optic on the suddenly mellow Mercedes driving beside him. "I don't want to be anywhere near here when the Autobots start sniffing around where you crashed."

"It wasn't my best landing," Sideways admitted glumly. "It was a long trip."

"Well there's nothing for it now," Demolisher rumbled. "We're stuck running circles around the Autobots until someone shows up and gives us something to _do_."

The Constructicon could not keep his bitterness out of his tone, angered by the fact that even _Scrapper_ wouldn't give him the time of day. As mad as he was, though, he couldn't help but worry; had something _else_ terrible happened? It seemed that everything had started to fall apart after Starscream led his doomed crew to Earth, and the news of Megatron's death did not make things easier. The sniveling jet would make another grand grab for absolute power, which would, as it always was, be met with equal parts acceptance and rejection. He imagined things on Cybertron were less than calm, so those on the fringe were going to have to wait until everything was smoothed out.

"Tell me why you came here," Demolisher suddenly asked, hoping to catch the truth if the Mercedes was mellow enough to comply. "And don't bother telling me you got orders from Blackout, because we _both_ know that's not true."

"I have my reasons," Sideways said evasively, which did nothing to deter the Constructicon.

"I would suggest you share them with me," Demolisher said sharply, growl of his engine rising to match his tone.

"It's my own business and I don't have to tell you, you stupid dirt mover!" Sideways barked, instantly regretting his words as Demolisher's brakes grinded in the dirt. As Demolisher transformed, the Mercedes realized he'd made a terrible mistake standing up to the Constructicon. If he thought the excavator mode itself was large, the sheer size of his root mode had him reeling back in panic.

Demolisher knew he was imposing, dwarfing most of his comrades without even rising to his full height. It was a simple act of throwing one of his wheels up over his head to make him look twice as large, a tactic that rarely failed to instill further terror. Organic creatures across the galaxy had a habit of puffing themselves up to appear more intimidating, and Demolisher found that it worked just as well on highly advanced mechanical beings.

Sideways transformed, falling over himself in his panic to escape the Constructicon, scrambling in the dirt to try and run. Demolisher easily grabbed him with one hand, tightening around the middle of the thrashing Mercedes to hold him fast. The silver 'Con did not make it simple for the excavator, squirming and twisting with all his might to break the vice grip he was in. Demolisher lifted him up to his level, intending to shake or squeeze the truth out of the little 'Con.

"I see you're all bark, and no bite," Demolisher rumbled, head tilting to one side as the silver 'Con struggled in his grip. "Let's try this again, only this time you tell m-"

The Constructicon bite back a growl of pain as sharp saws spun out of Sideways' arms, slicing into the excavator's hand. They cut into the metal with a shower of sparks, stopping only when Demolisher released him by throwing him through the air.

"So you _do _have claws!" Demolisher laughed as Sideways hit the ground hard, one of his saw blades snapping off as he failed to retract it in time. Demolisher inspected the damage on his hand even as Sideways transformed to his alt mode, probably planning on a quick getaway. Seeing that the saws hadn't hit anything vital, he ignored his injured hand and looked after the retreating Mercedes. Thinking Sideways had enough of a head start, Demolisher casually rolled after him, charging the cannon on his good arm.

One low level blast from his cannon was enough to blow a crater in the dirt road and send Sideways rolling over into the opposite ditch. The silver 'Con transformed out of instinct, swaying uneasily as the shot had disoriented him. No doubt still fueled by panic, he started forward, only to be lifted off his feet as Demolisher took a swat at him. Sideways landed back on the dirt road, letting out an involuntary gasp of pain upon impact. Before he had the chance to even recalibrate, a massive hand was suddenly smothering him, pinning him to the ground.

"Well, that was fun," Demolisher said, leaning over him and eclipsing the morning sun. If he had had the room to do so, Sideways would have shrunk away from him. As it was, the Constructicon had him perfectly immobile – he couldn't lift the arm with the remaining saw even if he wanted to. "One last time: _why_ did you come to Earth?"

"Please," he heard Sideways whine, frame straining somewhat under his hand. Fear radiated off of the Mercedes, wide red optics searching for some sort of sympathy in indifferent yellow optics.

"I apologize, I forgot my manners," Demolisher said in a flippant, yet angered tone. "Tell me why you came here, _please_."

"I can't tell you," Sideways moaned, frame no longer straining, but shaking. "Don't make me tell you."

"I even said _please_," Demolisher growled threateningly. "I'll gladly take you apart if you'd just-"

"Because I'm _dying_!" Sideways shouted so suddenly and so forcefully that Demolisher lifted his hand, rolling back in shock. The Mercedes made a weak attempt at crawling away from him, but the excavator moved forward again to indicate neither of them were going anywhere.

"Your vitals are fine," Demolisher announced, performing only the most basic of surface scans. Even that would tell him if something life threatening was happening in Sideways' body, but nothing was out of place. The only thing that seemed odd were his Energon levels, which were almost halfway depleted. Their brief scuffle would not have been enough to take that much out of him, and he knew he hadn't punctured any fuel lines.

"I know they are," Sideways said, his panic slowly being replaced with a different kind of fear. "Just leave me alone."

"If you know-"

"I said leave me alone!" the Mercedes transformed again, his alt mode sporting a few new dents and dings. Demolisher had only to reach out with one hand, his hooked finger catching under Sideways' bumper and lifting him up. His front tires spun uselessly on the gravel, unable to get free of the Constructicon.

"Why would you come to _Earth_ to die?" Demolisher asked, more to himself than the Mercedes. Convinced he wasn't going anywhere, the Constructicon released him, and the silver 'Con sagged on his tires, defeated. "And how do you know you're dying when your vitals all read positive?"

Sideways, predictably, did not answer. Perhaps he was hoping the Constructicon would grow bored with him and leave. Instead, he folded back down to his alt mode, pushing on the silver car's bumper with his shovel.

"Go get your saw and let's go," Demolisher said, engine firing up as he began driving once again.

"Where?" Sideways asked warily, darting back to retrieve his weapon before following him at a greater distance than before.

"East, like I said," Demolisher replied. "And may be someplace a bit further south, too, where it's sunnier."

"Okay," Sideways agreed, though the confusion was obvious in his voice. He self consciously retracted his solar panels, thinking may be the Constructicon was mocking him.

"You keep your secrets for now," the excavator said, suddenly back to being menacing. "But don't think you'll have them forever."

Sideways did not reply, silently allowing the Constructicon to lead and control his life. It wasn't like he was getting a choice in the matter.

* * *

_A/N: For some reason, Demolisher is not on the character list for ffdotnet, but this will obviously be mostly from his point of view. And yes, I know Sideways is an Audi R8 in the film, he just isn't one yet ;)_


	2. Chapter 2

_Southern Kazakhstan_

It took them just under two months to get as far as they had, waylaid by every complication ranging from border patrols to Autobot scares. It didn't help that they could only travel during the daylight hours, made worse by Sideways' odd nightly behavior. Demolisher could see that whatever he claimed was killing him happened during the night cycle, causing him undue stress and pain. Every night Demolisher left the comm channel between them open in case the Mercedes decided to share his troubles. He never did, and Demolisher never asked.

The Constructicon had made plans to move eastwards through Russia, but diverted them towards the equator for Sideways' sake. Neither of them liked the climate any better, but it put them closer to the sun, which did wonders for the Mercedes. Despite faring better in the daytime, he still suffered once the sun had disappeared over the horizon.

Demolisher kept in infrequent contact with Barricade, who was constantly less than thrilled to hear from him. He was even less excited to hear that Sideways was there, but the Constructicon never told him anything was wrong. Neither of them had heard anything from Cybertron, and despite never saying it, Demolisher knew it bothered the hunter as much as it did him. With the Autobot leader and last remaining Prime apparently staking claim on this world, things were bound to heat up here once again.

Coming dangerously close to the border of Uzbekistan, Demolisher's hunch of more remaining Decepticons finally proved correct. He was not surprised the drone had managed to track them even while they hid from Autobots, as its master had once been called Megatron's Hound. Scorponok had come all the way from Qatar to intercept them, though it greeted them with little fanfare, and even less enthusiasm than Barricade. It was not emotional to begin with, but Demolisher always remembered the drone has having a bit more _spunk_.

Overall, it was healthy, only missing the stinger of its tail. That had clearly been blown off, and it was having a difficult time healing. Scorponok gladly accepted Demolisher's invitation to jack into his fuel cells for pure Energon, and not just what it could siphon from petrol reserves or solar panels. The three of them loitered about in broad daylight, far removed from the nearest village, even farther from the closest military base. Scorponok draped itself over Demolisher's cab, completely limp as the Constructicon fueled it, and as Sideways made small repairs on its armor.

"This was Blackout's drone, wasn't it?" Sideways asked, attempting to reseal a crack on one of the scorpion's legs. It kept jerking it out of his hand, annoyed by the fussing and the pain it knew the resealing would cause. At the mention of Blackout's name, it cycled air through its vents, blowing sand in Sideways' face.

"Yeah," Demolisher said, even though Sideways had gotten his answer rather rudely. Shaking his head to clear out the grit, the Mercedes went back to trying to force the drone's leg to cooperate. "We should probably take it with us. We might have to track back north and cross the Bering Strait to reach North America. Barricade will probably want to take Scorponok."

There was a loud metallic _thunk _as Scorponok's tail connected with Sideways' head, irritated at the meddling and at being talked about. The Mercedes recoiled with a yelp, nearly falling off of where he was perched on Demolisher's cab.

"Definitely Blackout's drone," Sideways muttered, rubbing the spot where the tail had struck him. Scorponok responded with another huff, before going limp again, letting out a small whine. "What's it being so _moody _for?"

"What do you think?" Demolisher growled, lifting and dropping his shovel in agitation. "I imagine Blackout had Scorponok well before _you_ were even brought online."

"Oh," Sideways said, looking at the scorpion with new-found pity. Scorponok only growled, shifting itself so it wasn't facing the silver 'Con any more. Knowing that, he decided it was definitely depressed. Otherwise it probably would have sliced his head off instead of only whacking him.

"I've been trying to get a hold of Barricade to let him know, but he's ignoring me as usual," Demolisher grumbled. He knew Scorponok was merely tolerating them because they were Decepticons. The scorpion would probably trust Barricade more since Blackout had actually liked the hunter. Well, _liked_ him so much as any Decepticon was capable of doing, putting potential allies somewhere near the bottom of their shoot-in-the-back list.

"_If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm ignoring you because I don't want to talk to you_."

The sound of Barricade's voice coming out of the drone was shock enough for Sideways to actually fall off of Demolisher this time.

"What a surprise," Demolisher said out loud, ignoring the pained yelp from the Mercedes. "You'll answer the drone faster than you'll answer me."

"_I told Scorponok to meet you and get some repairs, considering it won't come to me and I can't go to it. Don't try to take it with you; it's hell bent on staying in Egypt_."

"Egypt?" Sideways' voice drifted up from the dust cloud he'd created from hitting the ground.

"_It says it's got something important to do there. I have no idea, but it will be fine on it's own_," Barricade said, at which Scorponok nodded its head once before going limp again. There was a pause, before Barricade asked: "_Is it badly injured_?"

"Nothing major," Demolisher replied. "It obviously lost its stinger at some point, but that's growing back. Otherwise it's just sulking."

Barricade muttered something mostly unintelligible, though Demolisher thought he sounded like he was considering coming to retrieve the drone. When he spoke again, his tone was back to neutral. "_Let it go back to Egypt. I'll deal with it later_."

"Are there any other drones on Earth that you forgot to mention to me?" Demolisher asked. Barricade was silent, so the Constructicon tried to prod him into answering. "Wasn't Fren-"

"_He's dead_," Barricade said sharply, and Sideways winced when Scorponok's radio cut off with a squawk of feedback.

"Great," Demolisher griped. "Now he won't speak to us again for six months."

* * *

After parting ways with Scorponok, the Decepticon pair fell back into their usual routine. They stayed as close to the border as they dared, following it up through to Mongolia and aiming for northern China. Weeks stretched into months and their progress was slow as usual, with Sideways spending more time absorbing solar energy than doing anything else. Demolisher continued to turn a blind optic to his nightly wailing, letting him keep his secret so long as it wasn't threatening them both.

Their schedule never faltered: Sideways would be at Demolisher's side the moment sun peaked over the horizon, even on mornings when it was hidden behind clouds. From there, they would plot their course, sometimes taking shortcuts or longer routes depending on their mood. If they were bored enough, they would linger in areas with strong Wi-Fi connections, downloading music, movies, books and graphic novels to entertain themselves. Sideways liked those days best, but more often than not Demolisher kept them moving. By the time dusk arrived, Sideways was nowhere to be seen, and Demolisher waited for the night the Mercedes would finally give up his secret.

While Earth was interesting, the Constructicon did not pretend to understand half of what the humans did. Last month, most of the so-called 'western' world celebrated the new year, and the Asian communities they were passing through had only just begun to prepare for their own festivities. Demolisher found it odd that the sometimes opposing cultures calculated dates so differently from one another. 2008 had come and gone in North America, while Islamic communities had just brought in the year 1430. He supposed with a bit more research he might understand the oddities, but that was what Sideways was for.

The Mercedes didn't _always_ talk his audial receptors off, but once he had realized Demolisher did not intend to run him over, he had become much more animated. The excavator assumed he was hyper because he soaked in so much solar energy, even if it did suddenly deplete itself overnight. The silver 'Con never talked about himself, steering their (mostly one-sided) conversations to human topics. Through those conversations, Demolisher learned more about Earth than he would have ever wanted. There was no escaping it either, since Sideways' systems couldn't sync with the Wi-Fi, so Demolisher had to look up and download everything for the both of them. There were few disagreements between them, mostly stemming from different tastes. While Demolisher took to classic Westerns and the likes of Johnny Cash, Sideways was partial to horror films and loud alternative rock.

There had not been repeat case of their first morning together. Demolisher's hand had healed quickly, as had the minimal damage he'd inflicted upon Sideways. The excavator had begun to feel comfortable with his routine on Earth, despite feeling like Barricade was stringing him along for no reason. He had received another brief message from Scrapper consisting of two words: orders pending. That was not the sort of language the Constructicon leader used, so someone else was orchestrating things of Cybertron by now. Of course, just as things felt controlled and predictable on Earth, a deviation finally occurred in their schedule.

One morning, not long after crossing the border into China, Sideways failed to return in his usual prompt, timely manner. Demolisher was not in a hurry, and gave the Mercedes an extra hour in case he required more time to recharge. The silver 'Con was just inside of his scanner range, so it wasn't as though he'd finally decided to run off after all. Knowing he would ignore the open radio link, Demolisher started off down the road, mildly irritated at his tardiness. When Sideways' once strong signal started to fade almost to nothing, Demolisher put on greater speed, more than a little curious at this point.

It didn't take long to find him; Sideways was spread out on the ground in his root mode in the middle of the field. One of his arms was curled around his chest, his frame shaking and jerking in short, pained bursts. Certain no human was nearby, Demolisher transformed, wanting to get a better look at the small silver 'Con. Clearly, whatever had been causing him pain before had become a serious problem. A quick surface scan told him told him almost exactly what he'd suspected: his Energon supply had dropped to near fatal levels, causing most of his normal vitals to plummet as well.

It still seemed impossible, though, considering the amount of energy the little 'Con pulled in from the sun on a daily basis. There were no leaks, nor was he lying a puddle of the vital fluid. How had Sideways lost _all_ of his Energon over the course of a single night? Reaching out with one massive hand, he nudged the Mercedes with a large finger. It moved his frame, but Sideways barely reacted, his limbs locked up in what the humans would have called rigor mortis. In fact, the only indication Demolisher had that Sideways was still halfway alive and aware was the look of pure, absolute terror on his face.

His fear was not unfounded, considering he was dying. Demolisher did not regret doubting him before, but this was the first sign he'd seen of something _truly_ fatal to the Mercedes. He knew Sideways' fear was twofold: not only was he helpless and dying, but he probably assumed the Constructicon would terminate him. Demolisher could at least give him a swift death, far better than the alternative of painful starvation. Honestly, it would be pragmatic and efficient to euthanize the silver 'Con so as to not prolong his suffering, and also to prevent him from being a drain on the Constructicon. All Demolisher had to do was figure out if he could be saved or cured without putting himself at risk.

It was not compassion that moved him to help the Mercedes. The Constructicon hardly thought of himself as an empathic, caring unit, as he was more geared towards demolitions and destruction. Still, Demolisher had the peculiar habit of sheltering smaller Decepticons, from the smallest drone to those even larger than Sideways. _Charity cases, _Scrapper called them, as he shook his head, not understanding his comrade's mother hen tendencies. Not that Scrapper knew what a hen was, but Demolisher thought the crude description would work.

Despite the constant power struggles that occurred in their faction, the Constructicon did not see most of his teammates as competition. Sideways hardly registered as a threat to the massive 'Con, so eliminating him would earn him no gain. Rampage and Long Haul might be of the opinion that only the strongest, the _largest_ survived, but Demolisher found that logic entirely lacking. Their war had started ages ago, and here before him was a surviving 'Con barely a quarter his size. Even cowards like Sideways and liars like Barricade continued to thrive among their ranks, more necessary than some would give them credit.

Demolisher weighed his options, debating over _how _exactly he was going to help the silver sports car. Sideways was entirely powerless, and it would be easy for him to accidentally damage the Mercedes with his large hands. Sideways whined as Demolisher brought his fingers up against his chassis, trying to pry his stiff arm out of the way. Somehow, he managed to move it without snapping anything important, and simply pressed one finger against Sideways' chest. His hands were far too large to find the clasps on his armor, so he hoped the Mercedes had the energy, and the smarts, to open up for him.

With a low grinding sound, the armor did part, helped along by Demolisher's hooked finger as soon as he could catch the edge of it. What he needed was just below the small mech's spark chamber: his main fuel supply jack. Making another quick check for human presence, he threw one wheel up behind him, hovering over the small 'Con. His large fingers fumbled with his own fuel line, which was still accessible from when Scorponok had used it. Sideways let out a very small squeak once they were connected, but he did not know if it was out of pain or something else.

All he felt from the Mercedes was a hungry pull, but Demolisher monitored the Energon flow to keep him from making himself sick. Slowly, Sideways' limbs began to loosen as vital fluid, coolant and Energon coursed through his lines, frame beginning to relax. The sporadic shaking and jerking slowly subsided until Sideways was completely limp, optics unfocused as his strained systems forced him into a semi-recharge state. Demolisher slowed the Energon to a mere drip, uncertain as to why Sideway's body continued to demand more when his tanks were full.

The sun climbed higher into the sky, and Demolisher passed the time by checking for humans and scanning for Autobots. Some time after noon, the Constructicon disconnected their fuel lines, watching the Energon levels carefully. Less than twenty minutes went by before they began to fluctuate, and in just under an hour Demolisher had to reconnect them as his energy supply crashed. The silver 'Con remained almost entirely out of it, the groans of pain stopping only once he was being fueled. Demolisher did not give him a full dose of Energon this time, instead keeping it at the level required to maintain basic life support.

It was well into the afternoon before Sideways had the strength to speak. A few hours ago he had managed to curl himself around Demolisher's wheel, that small action practically winding him.

"I lied," Sideways said weakly, red optics looking up into yellow optics with a detached sense of fear and apprehension. Demolisher waited for an explanation, not knowing how much the Mercedes was going to be able to talk. "I came here looking for Ratchet."

"The Autobot medic?" Demolisher asked, getting a small nod from Sideways. The silver sports dropped his head back to the ground, either too tired to keep it up or unwilling to look at the excavator.

"Nearest medic," Sideways said, idly picking dirt out of Demolisher's treads. That was one of the reasons the excavator enjoyed the presence of smaller units; they could perform simple tasks like that for him in exchange for protection from enemy fire. Demolisher was not very demanding when it came to business exchanges. "I can't keep Energon. It just... drains out of me."

"I've noticed. It has to be going somewhere, though," Demolisher said, running more surface scans as he spoke. He was barely even trained for field repairs, so he was not surprised when he couldn't find an explanation towards Sideways' situation. If the Energon was being reabsorbed into his body, why couldn't he detect that source? It would have to be brimming with the stuff by now. "When did this start?"

"A while ago. A few months before I arrived here," said the Mercedes, working on cleaning out the next tread. Despite getting great chunks of dirt out, the motion still felt like little more than a passing breeze to the Constructicon. The sensors on his wheels were not that sensitive, but he knew Sideways was beyond weak right now. "Ratchet was the nearest medic, so I contacted him."

"He knew you were coming?" Demolisher asked, getting another nod from Sideways. The Mercedes shifted his frame somewhat, but did not move away from where he was comfortably wrapped around the Constructicon. There was not much fear in him now, despite the fact that Demolisher could kill him by simply rolling forward. "You know, you could have told me _that._"

"I told you I was dying," Sideways tried to defend himself, but the Constructicon only snorted.

"You didn't make a very good case for yourself," the excavator said, before shifting back to the matter at hand. A minor glitch that inconvenienced him for eight to ten hours was hardly life threatening, or so he had thought. "Why did this only happen at night?"

He felt Sideways shrug his shoulders, before getting a verbal answer. Apparently the mud was really caked in, because he was still scraping at the same tread. "As long as I'm constantly pulling energy in, it doesn't hurt. As soon as there's no energy source, it gets bad."

"And then your Energon levels deplete to nothing," Demolisher said, more to himself than to Sideways. The Mercedes was not bleeding, and had not shed a drop of Energon since he'd run into him, so where was it going? Something in his body would have to be siphoning it, but not even his reserve tanks were overfilling. "And what hurts?"

"Everything," Sideways replied, pausing before he clarified his statement. "At first just my chest. It sort of spreads from there. Right now I just feel... sore."

"You nearly starved to death in just under ten hours," Demolisher said, running one finger down Sideways' back. The way that made the Mercedes cling tighter to wheel and shiver told him not to do it again. "I'm sure there are plenty of unpleasant side effects for that."

Sideways seemed to have finally lost the strength the speak, or had drifted into another recharge cycle. Demolisher watched the sun sink closer to the horizon, hoping the Mercedes would be fit to move soon. He wasn't entirely convinced this area would remain unoccupied forever. As soon as the light barely began to face, Demolisher roused the dozing 'Con by nudging his head with one finger. The Mercedes made a noncommittal sound, which meant he was awake.

"Can you transform?" Demolisher asked, quietly unhooking his fuel line from the other 'Con. He would not have much time before his energy level began to crash, but the Constructicon wanted them somewhere secluded.

"I'll try," Sideways said groggily, managing to push himself upright. Demolisher backed away a few feet, giving the Mercedes room to shift forms. Sideways barely even started the sequence before figuring out that he couldn't transform, and the attempt only caused another flare up of pain. Howling in agony, the Mercedes wrapped his arms around his chest, writhing on the ground. Caught off guard by the suddenness of his plight, Demolisher simply stared at him, wondering if it would pass. There was a good chance, however, that waiting it out would prove fatal.

New wires were pulled out of Demolisher's chassis along with the fuel line, and the Constructicon had to hold him flat to connect them a second time. He bypassed Sideways' firewalls with ease, bringing up an old subroutine that would sync their systems. He began uploading the necessary data to the Mercedes, rewriting lines of code as multiple errors told him he was doing everything wrong. Hacking was not exactly his forte, but he was only trying to get their programs to recognize one another.

"Sideways. _Sideways_. Listen to me," Demolisher said loudly, ensuring the data feed went only one way to prevent a negative backlash of pain into himself. Below him, the Mercedes pawed at the new wires, lacking the strength to pull them loose or damage them. They were foreign to his body, and telling him things that they had no right to be telling him. His vents were over cycling, inhaling and expelling air in a manner the reminded Demolisher of watching a human suffer an asthma attack. "You need to shed your alt mode. I'm going to host you, do you understand?"

Sideways could hardly nod, let alone speak, but the silver 'Con began disconnecting sections of his armor. Minding the wires and tubes that connected them, Demolisher helped strip the superfluous protrusions that made up his alt mode. It took less than ten minutes before Sideways was a bare protoform once again, which was exactly what the Constructicon wanted. Despite being even more exposed and vulnerable, the excavator picked him up carefully, sending commands through their temporary link up.

The programs were incomplete, as Sideways was not a true symbiote and thus did not possess the complimentary software. Both of them were hardwired to be hosts, but Demolisher would work around the conflicting code long enough to get Sideways stable. In his current state, the silver mech was far more open to suggestion, and did not resist anything Demolisher asked of him. He immediately obeyed the command to fold up into the Constructicon's chassis, transforming with him as he shifted to his alt mode.

Having never carried a drone of any kind before, Demolisher found it vaguely unsettling to feel his insides rearranging themselves to accept the new passenger. Completely ensconced within the mining vehicle, Sideways was likely in the safest place he'd ever been since the war had started. The pain had started to dull, but Demolisher continued to send him commands to recharge and remain silent. Despite the disorienting merge, Sideways complied, and the excavator felt confident they could travel.

Dusk surrounded them now, and Demolisher started off down the road, for once able to move after dark. He was already sending another message through the satellites, though this one bore a different encryption. It wasn't often he had to communicate across enemy lines, but medics frequently used neutral channels. If Sideways had been in contact with him prior to arriving on Earth, there was a good chance the Autobot would be more willing to answer his call. Now, the only evidence of Sideways' existence was the Mercedes skeleton left in the middle of the road, as though some great monster had cracked him out his shell and devoured him whole.

Demolisher supposed that wasn't too far from the truth, except this monster had a medic to find, and fast.

* * *

_A/N: _P.A.W. 07_: I didn't know the lists were fan-submitted, so thanks for the info! Demolisher was the big guy at the beginning of the movie, who looks just like Scavenger apparently. It still drives me up the wall that there were at least two sets of Constructicons running around the movie, but oh well. As for Sideways, I have no desire to kill him off any faster than he was in the film. Just remember that Decepticons don't make friends like Autobots or humans do ;)_

_To everyone else, thanks for the reviews, fav's, and alerts!  
_


	3. Chapter 3

_Akita, Japan_

Autobot Ratchet had agreed to meet them both in a neutral location, chosen by the medic himself. He had responded so quickly that Demolisher did not doubt he had been waiting for a message from Sideways, though may be not someone else on his behalf. The medic had expressed some trepidation, going so far as to believe Sideways had perished upon making planetfall. The Constructicon assumed he would continue to be suspicious until he actually _saw_ his patient, which would happen within the next few days.

The medic made arrangements with him so quickly that Demolisher thought he was either still in California, or on the same continent. If the latter were the case, the Autobots were probably trying to track Decepticons like themselves. Northern Japan had been the location hand picked by the medic, complete with coordinates for an exact rendezvous point. The worst part of the entire journey to Japan had not, surprisingly, been crossing the border from China into Russia. It was getting to Japan itself that proved ridiculously complicated.

He had had to waste an entire day hacking, tracking and waiting for information on a ship that could carry them across, no questions asked. The Constructicon knew they would have to leave Japan as soon as they could, as he was probably leaving a paper trail behind him the size of Trypticon. As if that hadn't been enough trouble, Sideways, having been silent and calm up until the ship voyage, did not like water in the least. Even wrapped up in the excavator, he _knew_ they were on water, but could do nothing about it.

That was where the incomplete host/symbiote connection started to break apart, as Demolisher had no way to control Sideways' quickly mounting panic. The Constructicon had no idea what the issue was, until the little 'Cons systems tried to purge what little Energon he had. This development had been less than acceptable: Demolisher could not transform on a ship full of humans, nor could he allow Sideways to expel the Energon while he was _inside of him_. It took everything he knew about drones and about Sideways himself to placate him before the humans thought the excavator on their ship was haunted.

Of course, by the end of the trip, every Russian thought there was something the matter with the mining machine. Not only did it have a short that caused its shovel to bang into itself, it also rolled with its parking brake on, and the radio would play for hours despite their attempts to shut it off. Demolisher despised having humans in his cab, but he had to play the inanimate machine in order to make the voyage. While the Russian crew members scratched their heads over the strange vehicle, Demolisher calmed Sideways enough that they made it without _too_ much suspicion.

The connection had held, even with Sideways trying to force his way past it and Demolisher abusing it by shoving him back. By the time they reached the shore, the Constructicon would have liked nothing more than to recharge for the next week. Sideways experienced another surge of fear when they left ship, not liking the noises in the shipyard or the creaking of docks and plunking of the buoys. It astounded Demolisher to no end that someone so jumpy and irrationally fearful enjoyed every horror film made by the human race. If the small 'Con survived, he'd definitely have to ask him about it.

Three days after Sideways had collapsed in China, Demolisher found himself waiting in an abandoned warehouse district for a medic that was technically the enemy. His scanners were on full alert, even though he did not think the medic would set him up, or even come with another Autobot. The medic himself was taking a considerable risk coming alone, or even at all, and the excavator wondered if he spoken with his superior about the situation. Part of Demolisher doubted it, as most _true_ medics still alive would save any life, regardless of faction.

It was well past midnight before anything stirred in the empty district, tight hi-beams cutting through dark area. The excavator remained still and silent, waiting until a yellow search and rescue vehicle rolled into sight. Demolisher flicked on his foglights, and the medic stalled briefly before continuing in his direction. When he was about fifty yards away, he stopped and transformed, posture tense and defensive. The Autobot gave the excavator a once over, before his gaze shifted about, as if expecting an ambush. After a moment Demolisher realized he was looking for his supposed patient, not knowing he was tucked safely under the excavator's armor.

"He's with me," the Constructicon rumbled, and the medic looked up at him sharply. Demolisher knew it was best that he stay in his alt mode for as long as possible, as that would make him less of a threat. The medic straightened up when the excavator's cab cracked open, hands curling defensively in case the Constructicon was transforming. Without much regard to Sideways' comfort, Demolisher began to disconnect the smaller 'Con, exposing his protoform to the medic.

"Easy," Ratchet admonished, starting forward with a very rigid, cautious posture. Demolisher could see a saw, not unlike Sideways', spinning on his left arm, a careful reminder that the medic _could_ hurt him. Sideways was completely disconnected by the time the Hummer was next to him, though he did not have the strength to pull himself free from Demolisher.

"I forced a host/symbiote program to keep him stable," the Constructicon said as the Autobot brushed any loose wires out of his way. "It was the only way I could move him anyways."

"Don't abort that program until I've sorted him out," Ratchet commanded at once, stopping Demolisher before he did just that. He had been ready to kill it the second Sideways was out of him, wanting to rid himself of the ache it had caused on the ship. The medic carefully pulled the weak protoform free from his cache, tugging as Sideways tried to hang onto the Constructicon with one hand. "Let's be clear on one thing here: he told you so long as he's absorbing energy, it doesn't _hurt_?"

"That's what he said," Demolisher replied, watching the medic delicately place the silver 'Con down on the concrete. The medic was no fool – he set the smaller 'Con between the two of them, and had never once turned his back on the Constructicon. He more than likely did not expect an attack from him now, but there was no sense in taking chances. "There's no excess collected in run off reservoirs, and it isn't burned off, exhausted, or expelled by his systems. It just _vanishes_."

"I assure you, it's going somewhere," Ratchet said tartly, already beginning preliminary medical scans. "When did this start?"

"Since before I ran into him," Demolisher said evasively, and the medic spared him a quick glare.

"I need some type of time frame, Decepticon," Ratchet said, switching to more fine tuned frequencies on his scanners. There were things being displayed that Demolisher had never seen before, and he would likely never understand. "We already know you're not the only 'Cons planetside, so there's no reason to cover your tracks."

"A few Earth months," Demolisher replied, still keeping it vague. He didn't care _what_ the medic said; there was no reason for him to spill every last detail when it wasn't necessary. The excavator was curious about his confidence concerning other Decepticons; did he mean Barricade, or was he digging for information? Whatever it was, Demolisher was not stupid enough to acknowledge his assertion. "Three days ago he went catatonic, and still felt the pain even when he was getting a direct line from my fuel cells."

"How much Energon did you supply to him?" Ratchet asked, optics darting between Demolisher and his scans of Sideways.

"The first time? Enough to fill his tanks before they starting crashing again. After that, just enough to keep him functioning," Demolisher replied. "Felt like he would have taken everything if I didn't monitor it."

"Hm," Ratchet turned his full attention to Sideways, who lay deathly still on the pavement. Demolisher had probably been too aggressive with his commands through the connection, but the medic didn't seem upset about a quiet patient. "That's the benefit of a symbiotic relationship – you can control the give and take. The rules still apply even if it's not a true symbiosis. _Parasites_, on the other hand..."

With a flick of one hand, he released the armor on the 'Cons chest, and Sideways' chassis snapped open, exposing his spark and the surrounding inner circuitry. The same saw Demolisher had seen earlier came to life with a biting whine, coming down and making one quick pass just under the spark chamber. The saw quickly retracted as Ratchet's hand dove in under the incision, and Demolisher wondered how potentially fatal any of that was. Interrupting him to ask would probably make it one hundred percent fatal, so he merely observed and waited.

Ratchet's digging about ended with a wet _squelching_ sound, followed by a minute squeal. The second sound had not come from Sideways, who was still entirely unaware of what was happening to him. Instead -

"I'd like to know where your friend was hanging out to pick_ this_ prize up," Ratchet said, a look of disdain on his facial plates. He pulled his arm back, and Demolisher could see his hand had been replaced with a pair of forceps. Pinched between the tongs was a writhing, wormlike _thing _coated in bright blue Energon. Ratchet continued to pull it out, and Demolisher guessed that the metallic wormthing was nearly six feet long before the end of it snapped out of Sideways' chassis. Energon splattered across Sideways and the medic, who did not appear to care.

"It's a parasite?" Demolisher asked, thinking he ought to clarify that detail.

"Yes," Ratchet said, bringing it up closer to his scanners. The thing wriggled and gurgled in Ratchet's grasp, at least a dozen spindly legs undulating as it tried to move out his grasp. "A healthy one at that, though I've never seen one _this_ big before. They typically remain small and relatively undetected, siphoning Energon from their host as discreetly as possible. Something about your friend made it greedy for more, I would guess, and its size got out of control. Eventually its mass would start pushing against his circuitry, causing continuous pain."

The medic pulled it away from his body when he felt the thing's tail trying to anchor onto his armor.

"Under normal circumstances I would like to quarantine it for further study," Ratchet said, and Demolisher knew he was recording everything he could on the creature before it met its end. "However, circumstances are not, well... normal. Incineration is its fate. Would you mind?"

The medic held the dripping parasite out in his direction, and Demolisher did not waste any time in transforming. He saw the medic tense again, saw blade spinning on its own accord, but he did not back away.

"It's too small for me to hold," Demolisher said, leaning down but keeping his distance from the medic.

"I'm not asking you to be its friend," Ratchet quipped. "Kill it however you please, but no fireworks. I need to make certain nothing else is leeching off of Sideways' fuel pump. Parasites clones themselves as a manner of propagation, and I would prefer not to have to schedule a follow up appointment."

Without much warning, Ratchet chucked the parasite in Demolisher's direction, were it landed with a _splat_ on the pavement. Lifting one hand, the Construction brought it down on the wormthing, sharp shovel-fingers splitting it into three segments. It died with a low keen, though its tail continued to thrash for a few more minutes. Firing any one of this weapons would be like a signal flare for trouble, so he did nothing else.

"I'll dispose of its remains," Ratchet said, not looking up from his study of Sideways' protoform. It took only a moment for him to complete what he wanted, all scanners and tools instantly retracting under his armor. "Continue monitoring his Energon intake for at least twenty-four hours. If he's capable of supporting himself by then, get him an alt mode as soon as possible and sever the symbiotic connection. Unless some unforeseen complication arises, which I highly doubt, I don't want to hear from either of you ever again."

"Fair enough," said Demolisher, already snapping down into his alt mode. The medic lifted Sideways once again, taking him over to the Constructicon to fit him back into his cache. "I'm sure he'd be thanking you right about now."

"And what about you?" Ratchet asked, obviously not expecting a thanks from the Constructicon as he backed away. It was mere curiosity, considering Demolisher had gone through all the trouble to bring him here in the first place.

"Don't walk in front of my sights on the battlefield."

That was closest Ratchet was going to get from a Decepticon promising not to shoot him. He had not expected anything more than that.

* * *

Two days later, a bright silver Audi R8 was driving in circles around a dusty red excavator.

"You're really milking this, aren't you?" Demolisher grumbled. "I'm giving you another five minutes. If you're not done by then -"

"Relax," Sideways interrupted, doing perhaps the fiftieth powerslide. Demolisher had stopped counting after three, already irritated. "I'm just getting the kinks out."

"How many _kinks_ do you have?" Demolisher demanded. He had to admit that the Audi seemed to fit him better than the Mercedes had, but he hadn't had a lot of choice in Germany. The moment Sideways was strong enough, Demolisher had tracked down the nearest international car show and let him have his pick. "May be hyper activity is a side effect, and you'll die if you don't stop."

"Nice try," Sideways quipped, through he stopped doing circles in favor of transforming for the may be the millionth time, flexing his saws. "I haven't felt _this_ good since -"

"-you picked up some sort of horrible parasite," Demolisher cut him off. "Where exactly would you have picked that thing up, anyways?"

"I don't know," Sideways said so quickly Demolisher imagined it made even the Audi suspicious of himself. He spent about five seconds looking abashed before brightening again, realizing he no longer had to mess up his alt mode with extra solar panels.

"Whatever," Demolisher snarled. "So long as you're fit to travel, I want to keep moving in case the medic does decide to rat us out."

"Where are we going?" Sideways asked, folding down into his alt mode without missing a beat.

"South," Demolisher replied. "Near Tokyo. Considering Barricade is leaving us high and dry, we might as well enjoy the downtime while-"

"_Demolisher_."

"Speak of the devil," Demolisher grumbled, and Sideways even stopped his gyrating to listen. "_Barricade, to what do we owe the pleasure_?"

"_Are you still in Asia_?" There was an unfamiliar undertone in the hunter's vocalizer, one that the Constructicon had not heard before. It was tense, almost hurried, and _definitely_ concerned.

"_Japan, actually_," the excavator replied, biting back a scathing comment. No matter how badly he wanted to lay into the other 'Con, he had the sinking suspicion that something was wrong.

"_Good, that's close. Can you meet me in__ Khabarovsk?_" Barricade asked. "_Soon_?"

"_Russia_," Demolisher knew where it was in an instant, just north of their current position. "_Why_?"

"_I can't explain it over a comm line_," Barricade's tone became even more harried, his obvious unease making _Demolisher_ uneasy. But the hunter was not one to fool around, despite his habit of lying.

"_We'll be there by tomorrow_," the Constructicon responded, and the connection went dead on the other end.

"What was that about downtime?" Sideways quipped, ducking back as Demolisher took a swing at him with his shovel. "I wanted to see Tokyo."

"Well now you're going to see Russia," Demolisher shot back, turning himself about to head north, instead of south. Sideways zipped after him, engine purring with its new found health and energy. "He sounded worried. Starscream probably blew up Cybertron or something."

"Don't even _joke_ about that!"

* * *

There was a dense forest just south of Khabarovsk, providing enough cover to conceal Demolisher and Sideways as they waited for Barricade. The hunter showed himself not long after they arrived, black and white paint job splattered with mud. His markings had changed to match that of the local police force, but he had not given up his all-too-American Mustang alt mode. The interceptor transformed once he was right in front of them, not wasting any time with greetings.

"Soundwave is coming to Earth," he announced, wincing as a small drone ejected itself from his chassis. Demolisher paid it no mind, but Sideways looked down to study the blue mech, curious. "Under orders from the Fallen."

"Sounds like a party," Sideways said, getting an odd look from Barricade. The last part of the interceptor's statement appeared to sink in, and the Audi jerked in surprise. "Wait, the _Fallen_?"

"Yeah the Fallen!" the drone burst out. "You got your audial receptors crossed or something?"

This time Demolisher did look down at the smaller 'Con, but it was Sideways who noticed the look on Barricade's face when the drone spoke. It was a look he associated with someone who'd been given the worst assignment on the roster, and was absolutely furious about it.

"Soundwave dispatched _Wheelie_ to replace Frenzy," Barricade explained, disgust apparent in his tone. "He is _less_ than _adequate_."

"Hey, you're no charmer yourself, copper!" Wheelie shot back. Barricade's left leg twitched, as if he had been considering kicking the drone. Successfully repressing the urge, the interceptor went on as if they hadn't been interrupted.

"When he heard about Megatron's death and Starscream's crazed attempt at rebuilding the Cube, the Fallen made his presence known," Barricade continued. "I don't know what's going on, but Soundwave's bringing more Decepticons with him, and they've got big plans."

"Plans like... what plans?" Sideways asked, obviously enthralled by everything Barricade said. Demolisher kept to himself, wondering how much of the truth they were actually getting from the hunter.

"Why don't you-" Wheelie started, but Barricade made one quick motion towards him and the drone dove for cover. No blow came, but Wheelie's reaction told the others that this was not the first time the interceptor had silenced him like that.

"I know there's at least one fragment of the Allspark that survived its destruction, so they're coming for that," Barricade said, posture relaxing again while Wheelie crawled off to get out of range. "What they're going to do with it is beyond me."

"Theoretically," Demolisher spoke up. "You could use it to revive the dead. Like Megatron."

"How'd you know _that_?" the silver Audi asked, but Demolisher ignored him.

"Except we don't know what the humans did with his corpse, or where the shard is," Barricade shook his head. "I've been trying for _weeks_ to get Scorponok to come back to me, but it insists it has work to do in Egypt. I'm – _we're_ going to need its help once Soundwave arrives."

"Hold on," Sideways said, lifting his hands. "What was that about Starscream _rebuilding_ the Cube?"

"He took Frenzy's body from the humans," Barricade said, razor sharp dentals grinding together in agitation. Wheelie grumbled something at their feet, but no one paid him any mind. "Since Frenzy had managed to steal every file the humans had on the Cube, Starscream thought he could recreate it by using those as blueprints. Of course, it didn't work, and he managed to destroy Trypticon in the process."

"I told you he'd have blown _something_ up," Demolisher growled, though he was thankful it hadn't actually been Cybertron. Losing their capital city was probably the final straw for the Fallen, who spent most of his time in the background.

"So, what? We just wait for Soundwave to show up and start barking orders at us?" Sideways asked, and even Barricade looked unsure of that.

"We'll help you retrieve Scorponok from Egypt," Demolisher decided after a long silence. "Since we're all here, we might as well stay together. As far as I'm concerned, we can do whatever we want until Soundwave starts buzzing around our heads."

It sounded far more irresponsible than it really was, but Demolisher was sick of being left in the dark. Until someone gave him solid orders, he was using his time as he saw fit.

"Blackout called me here for a reason," Demolisher continued. "I'll probably never know what it was, but the least I can do for him is look after his drone."

"How charitable of you," Barricade said, but it lacked the edge it should have had. The interceptor was not disagreeing with him, but opted to withhold how he truly felt about that statement. Sideways said nothing, but knew the Constructicon meant what he said. He had, after all, looked after him without receiving any sort of personal gain from it. Then again, he supposed the excavator could hold a life debt over his head, but Sideways doubted it.

"I got just one problem!" Wheelie yelled up to three of them. Barricade pointedly looked away from it, unwilling to acknowledge or cater to the drones needs. "Me and Scorponok ain't exactly what you'd call _friends_-"

"And no one will stop it from skewering you!" Barricade barked, the sudden outburst causing not only Wheelie to recoil, but Sideways as well.

"The easiest route to Egypt from here will probably be the shipping lanes," Demolisher said loudly, ignoring how Sideways had crawled closer to him. Barricade wasn't _that_ terrifying, was he? "Driving all the way back through that many countries will take forever, and I want to be as cohesive as possible once Soundwave arrives."

"Oh," Sideways said quietly. "More boats."

Demolisher ignored him again, at least relieved that they had made it back to mainland Russia without too much of a problem. Being more in control of himself the second time around, Sideways had been less panicky, though still uneasy. "Have you heard who Soundwave intends to bring with him?"

"No," Barricade shook his head. "I'm lucky I got as much out of him as I did."

"Why can't someone with a cargo plane alt mode show up?" Sideways asked, more to himself than anyone else. "We really have to go all the way back to Egypt?"

"You're right," Barricade said, in a tone that made even Sideways look hopeful that they wouldn't have to make the trip. "All this time, I haven't been asking Scorponok nicely enough. I'll just call him up, say _please_, and he'll come running."

Sideways slunk back into himself as Barricade's words became sharper and overflowed with hateful sarcasm. Demolisher could hear Wheelie snickering, obviously trying to keep himself quiet.

"We can cross land when we need to if it makes things go faster," Demolisher said, attempting to rein the smaller 'Cons back in. Wheelie had remained silent thus far, but he had continued to mutter to himself, glaring up at all of them. "Did Soundwave mention when he might arrive?"

"'Pending'," Barricade snorted, and Demolisher suddenly knew who Scrapper had been parroting when he'd asked for orders so many months ago.

"Then we need to move," the excavator said. "We know Scorponok was not malfunctioning, but Soundwave will be less forgiving if it continues to shun us. There are a lot of American military outposts between here and Egypt, which will give us a chance to do some digging in the meantime."

Barricade did not dispute him, and Sideways would probably agree to anything the Constructicon said anyways. No matter how standoffish the interceptor had been, he was at least agreeable now, if not stewing over his new drone. It was not going to be fun, or easy, to keep this group from ripping itself apart, but that's why his size came in handy. He could rip _them_ apart before anything got out of control, a little discipline where it was needed.

Out of all the Constructicons, Scrapper gave him the most autonomy. It wasn't that he didn't fit in with the others, he just had a knack for assuming leadership outside of their group. He would not be surprised if Barricade tried to take control, or manipulate him towards his own goals, but Demolisher could handle that. He'd received as many orders as he'd given over his long existence, though the interceptor might have his own agenda.

Demolisher watched his companions transform to their alt modes, Wheelie nearly getting run over by Barricade before the interceptor let him in. For once, the Constructicon felt hopeful towards the future. If Megatron could be revived, and the Fallen remained active in their ranks, they stood more than a fighting chance against the Autobots. It was that consolation that would make the miles between here and Egypt feel like nothing, literal and metaphorical waves easy to weather. Of course, all he had to do was keep a coward, a liar and a loud-mouthed drone together. Life, he supposed, wasn't much of anything without a challenge.

* * *

_A/N: _P.A.W. 07: _If you guessed it was a parasite, I'm not too surprised, considering it just occurred to me that you're the author of a great story called _Parasite!

_This story is intended to fill the two year gap between the movies, and was actually going to end somewhere around here. It was just my luck that Barricade decided to hijack the thing and try to make a plot, so there's more to come._

_Thanks again to everyone for all the fav's and alerts!  
_


	4. Chapter 4

_Somewhere in the North Pacific Ocean_

"_This is humiliating._"

"_Get over it._" Demolisher was not surprised by the griping, though it had taken longer to happen than he'd thought. Less than 24 hours was all it took before Barricade had uncovered a problem with their travel arrangements.

"_Easy for you to say,_" Barricade snapped. "_They put me in a_ packing crate!"

"_How else were we supposed to ship you_?" Demolisher grumbled back. "_Sideways is in one too, so quit complaining_."

"_How do we even know we can trust these humans to deliver us to the right place_?" Barricade was not giving up, even though they both knew Demolisher wasn't changing his mind any time soon. "_I overheard them talking about swiping my hubcaps_."

"_What for_?" Wheelie piped up, from somewhere on the freight ship. Being the smallest, Barricade had allowed him free reign, so long as he could remain undetected. "_They wanna play frisbee or somethin'?_"

"_Your research methods are sorely lacking if you can reference _frisbee_ but not understand that humans cannibalize their machines for currency,_" Barricade snarled.

"_Bite me_," Wheelie shot back, before dropping off the radio frequency.

"_Of course we can't trust the humans_," Demolisher finally responded. "_Just stay in the crate and you'll be fine. Be glad you're not stuck out in the open, especially with the rain coming_."

Not even the humans needed their radar to see what blotted out the horizon, though most of them seemed ambivalent about it. A dark thunderhead loomed in the distance, turning the once blue ocean expanse a lusterless gray. Demolisher did not look forward to being on the top deck under anything besides the sun, but there was nowhere else for his bulk to go. He was a strange 'package' to begin with, and more than one human had already tested the locks on his doors. Barricade was right to be suspicious; however, in order for them to go as undetected as possible, they had to deal with less-than-honest humans.

He hadn't heard a word from Sideways since they had been loaded onto the freighter, which was to be expected. Not wanting to broadcast the Audi's discomfort to Barricade or Wheelie, he did and said nothing to attract attention to him. Despite being stamped with an identical destination, their crates had not been stored next to each other. Demolisher wasn't certain if that was good or bad, but it would hopefully give Sideways some privacy if he did lose it. The Constructicon, not knowing what else to do, left a comm line open between them that neither Barricade nor Wheelie could access. It hadn't done much of anything during their first months together, but Demolisher didn't mind throwing Sideways a lifeline.

"_Are we headed straight up the Red Sea, or taking a land route sooner_?" Barricade asked, dropping the subject of being stuck in a wooden crate. He had apparently realized he was much better off than Demolisher if a storm was coming. While certainly cramped, the crate would be safe and dry.

"_Our last stop is Yemen_," Demolisher said, bringing up a satellite map to double check the routes he'd booked. The less he had to do it, the happier he would be. Eventually a human was going to figure out that the accounts and documents he was using didn't really exist. "_We'll work our way north to Egypt from there_. _Do you have any idea why Scorponok insists on staying there_?"

"_It won't tell me_," Barricade said, heaving a sigh even over the radio. "_It just keeps saying it has something to do, then ignores me_."

"_Is it possible Blackout left it orders_?"

"_That's what I was thinking. Either it hasn't finished its mission yet, or the orders were incomplete, and its still waiting for clarification._"

"_Which would mean it _was_ malfunctioning, or at least incapable of grasping its masters death_."

"_Scorponok is too intelligent to _not_ know what happened to Blackout. With any luck, it will let us help in Egypt, and then we can be on our way_."

"_Italy sounds like a nice place to visit_," Demolisher was met with silence at that, and he thought the Mustang was either considering it, or wondering what the slag he was on about. Sideways had been disappointed about missing Tokyo, but there were other human cultural centers that might interest him. Personally, Demolisher would have liked to see North America, and perhaps put the genre of country music into a sensible perspective.

"_Well, Soundwave will have something more concrete for us once he arrives_," Barricade finally replied, tactfully avoiding anything that had to do with Italy. Demolisher did not feel chastised in the least, at the same time learning Barricade was not one for sight seeing. "_Assuming we're done by the time he gets here_."

"_We'll worry about it when it happens_," the Constructicon said, and left it at that. The Mustang fell silent as well, and Demolisher became aware of a sudden drop in temperature. There were a few humans left out on the deck, looking across the water towards the storm clouds, pointing and gesturing in speculation.

He listened only partially, since the crew members were still unconcerned, just discussing practicalities. Worst case scenario, he thought, was a diverted course that would take them longer to reach their destination. While undesirable, it would not be a complete disaster.

Minding that his shovel was secure against his body, Demolisher let his systems power down one by one. The sun vanished behind the thunderhead, and the wind brought with it sounds of restless waves and vague rumbles of expanding air. The only thing he kept online besides necessary functions was his comm link with Sideways, empty static their only companion.

* * *

Demolisher awoke to the sound of tearing thunder and the feel of hard rain pelting against his armor. Beneath him, the ship rolled and groaned against the now violent waves, water crashing over the sides as the sea swelled. The storm had started several hours ago, so none of these things bothered the excavator enough to wake him. It was the sudden gripping, all consuming panic that he felt that had pulled him out of recharge. The overwhelming sensation of terror was gone almost as soon as he identified the emotion, and all that he was left with was mild confusion.

What had caused that sudden flare of panic? Nothing life threatening had occurred during his recharge cycle, and he was not worried about the storm in the least. He had been monitoring the heart rates of the humans on the ship, and while stressed from the rocky weather, they were not frightened. All of them seemed to be experienced crew members, and knew how to roll with the waves, so to speak. He tried to pinpoint the cause of his sudden fear, though it felt more and more detached the harder he thought about it.

He grasped at vague, waking memories, finally coming upon one that had recently been run through his data banks. It had been a long, _long_ time ago, on another planet not so different from Earth, except far wetter. Water and thunder rained down from the sky, accented by the angry retort of nearby weapons fire. The memory was vague to the point that he could not identify who he was with, or what was really happening, except that it had terrified him beyond belief. The sheer emotion packed into that file would have been enough to cause any traumatized victim a relapse or two, except nothing like that had ever happened to him. In fact, the _memory_ wasn't even his.

Demolisher immediately checked the severed symbiotic link he'd had with Sideways and found that it was still dead. Not entirely convinced, he started a diagnostic scan on it, assuming he'd missed some line of butchered code. While waiting, he noticed the comm link between himself and Sideways was still open, unused as always.

"_Sideways_."

No response.

"_I know you're online. Send me a live uplink to your vitals._"

No response, and no uplink came.

"_I intend on monitoring your health for the foreseeable future, in the bizarre case that Ratchet __was wrong. Send me your vitals_."

He was met with stony silence, feeling an odd mix of impatience and worry. It wasn't like it was a terrible inconvenience to him if Sideways died, but he'd prefer to avoid that.

"_If you don't answer me I _will_ come down there and find you._"

That was probably too much of an empty threat, but he sounded as serious as he could. Sideways continued his silence, but he did respond in a strange fashion. Demolisher's radio came to life, their comm link forcing the scanner to scramble across the air waves before settling on the correct frequency.

"-_something's gotta go wrong because I'm feelin' way too damn good-"_

"_That's not what I asked for_." Static erupted on his radio again as the scanner went haywire, coming to a scratchy halt.

"-_thought I was doin' fine, bound to get you-_"

"_Enough._"

The radio squawked indignantly a third time before going silent. A moment later he received a rush of data, a continuous stream as Sideways' primary vital functions were updated to him. As expected, everything was normal and within acceptable parameters. 'Acceptable' meaning not life threatening, but Demolisher knew terror and panic did not always put one's life in jeopardy. Sideways' intake cycle was accelerated, as was the pressure in his fuel lines. Coolant production was also elevated, rushing to reduce the temperature of overheated circuitry. There were more than enough signs to tell Demolisher that the Audi was stressed, and it had probably started as soon as they boarded the ship.

Sideways was afraid of something, and Demolisher suspected that was what had woken him up. The phantom memory gnawed at the edges of his central processor, so very alien and yet familiar at the same time. His self diagnostic scan eventually came back with the all clear, confident that the symbiotic link was effectively nonexistent.

Demolisher was not so convinced. It was possible the Audi had imprinted memories on him while they had been connected, and vice versa, but why did it not manifest itself until now? And was it coincidence, then, that a memory of such fear would resurface when Sideways was terrified, but not Demolisher himself? The most pressing issue, he supposed, was if it happened again, what could he do about it? He did not need Sideways' ever-present fear to start dragging him down whenever the _severed_ connection flared up.

Knowing Sideways would not speak to him, a fact that had been proven time and time again over the months, Demolisher reused the tactic that had succeeded during their first ocean voyage. Music had barely calmed him, since the Constructicon had only a vague idea of what his favorite songs were. Movies, especially his preferred genre, would only serve to fuel his unease, so he could not use those. Sideways had tuned him out when he tried talking to him about everything and nothing, unable to concentrate on the conversation.

That was when Demolisher had turned to using a more subconscious approach, something he had seen hosts and symbiotes do a million times over. Low, ultrasonic pulses through the link were like soothing whispers across panicked neural networks, a humming heard only by them. The Constructicon felt uncomfortable using them, especially now since they shouldn't _work_ anymore. It didn't take longer than twenty minutes before a few of the agitated vitals began to level out; reduced air intake and a drop in his core temperature. It was hardly a dramatic change, but enough to tell him there was still a hacked symbiotic link between them.

The Constructicon resigned himself to going the rest of the night cycle without another minute of recharge. With luck, Sideways would remain calm during the day hours and once the storm passed. If he did, then Demolisher would close the comm link and stop monitoring his vitals. He decided not to tell the Audi about the link, intending to break the damn thing properly without his knowing it had ever continued.

The rain continued to hammer down on him, the roar of the ocean challenged only by the zeal of the thunder.

* * *

_Sri Lanka_

The air was heavier here than anywhere they had been. Demolisher found he did not mind it, though it did have a way of irritating machines as much as it did the humans. He would not tolerate it for much longer, but they were stuck waiting for another charter ship that would take them to Yemen. From there, they would travel inland across the Arabian Peninsula, crossing the Red Sea when Egypt _and_ Scorponok were close enough.

Barricade, as expected, was nowhere to be seen. He had a habit of kicking his drone out of his alt mode, then taking off before anyone had time to question him. Demolisher did nothing to try and control him; it would have been fruitless as well as damaging. He needed as much of the interceptors trust as he could possibly get, and that was not done by hounding him.

As for Sideways, he remained unaware of the strangely active symbiotic link. There had been no negative repercussions as of yet, and Demolisher had not gotten another strange memory from the Audi. At the moment, the silver 'Con was spread eagle on the grass, relishing in the solid ground beneath him. Demolisher kept watch in his alt mode, letting the smaller sports cars do what they pleased. Wheelie was not far off, digging in the dirt and searching for who-knew-what under rocks.

The ocean was still and quiet under the moon, a perfect circle reflected on the surface. Demolisher was reminded of a saying the humans used frequently, of a supposed 'calm before the storm'. He thought it was terribly inaccurate, like everything else the humans believed with certainty. The calm _between_ storms would be more appropriate, since they had already gone through one, and another was sure to come. May be that was considered too pessimistic, but the Constructicon thought of himself as a realist more than anything.

Demolisher did not stir when Sideways sat up, brushing bits of crushed grass off of himself. He spared the Constructicon a brief glance, thinking perhaps his larger companion was recharging and not watching everything that moved. Making hardly a single noise, the silver Audi ducked into the trees, disappearing into the darkness. He did not go outside of scanner range, about the same distance away as Barricade was, actually. The interceptor had not budged in hours, more than likely sulking to himself than doing anything productive.

He did not worry for either of them. If they hadn't the smarts to protect or defend themselves, they would not have survived the war for this long. Many smaller units had hidden behind Demolisher for such protection, but they soon perished if they strayed too far. He did not mind being used as a buffer; in fact, it was something of a guilty pleasure. Though he was far from insecure, he enjoyed feeling important and useful to others. He was confident in himself and his abilities, with very little fear or hesitation swaying his decisions.

Yet, despite the relative ease with which smaller units ducked behind him, he knew they were still afraid of _him_. Not only was he unusually large, but he possessed considerable firepower and a commanding air. It didn't help that he was Constructicon, whose ranks included the violent Rampage and the ill tempered Long Haul. Even as a member of their team, he remained alone at the end of each battle, his usefulness waning until the next major offensive. He found himself missing his comrades, even if they spent most of their time bickering. At this point, Demolisher thought he could even handle Mixmaster's rambling-

An unearthly electronic shriek suddenly split the night air, startling Demolisher out of his introspective thoughts. He hadn't been paying attention to any of the others, and was surprised to see Barricade and Sideways right on top of one another on his radar. Immediately after the scream, an unwelcome deluge of _emotion_ hit him like a brick wall. He felt pain that did not exist, unfamiliar thoughts of _ow ow ow hurts he's hurting me help me ow no no_ raced through his processor, stunning him into inaction. There was another yelp of pain, and by now Wheelie was next to Demolisher, tiny flood lights straining to see in the dark.

Demolisher transformed, disoriented even as he pushed the foreign thoughts down as best he could. Wood splintered as Barricade came through the trees, dragging a kicking and thrashing Sideways behind him. With a vicious snarl, the interceptor threw the Audi toward Demolisher, who rolled back as Sideways landed at his wheel.

"_Traitor_!" Barricade howled, claws shining in the moonlight as he brandished them. Sideways weakly tried to push himself up, putting a hand over the bleeding wound in his shoulder. Bright blue Energon dripped onto the grass, and Demolisher could see it on Barricade's claws as well. "Who were you talking to?"

"N-no one!" Sideways gasped, scrambling away from the advancing Mustang, stopping when he hit Demolisher's wheel. "I wasn't – I wasn't -"

"You were using an Autobot frequency!" Barricade cut him off in his fury, frame tensed as if he were about to pounce. The Mustang never got the chance, stopped short when Demolisher's second wheel came down between them, slamming into the ground hard enough to knock him off his feet. Wheelie took off to hide in the bushes while Sideways threw his hands up of his head, curling into a defensive position.

Peeling the wheel out of the dirt and lifting it back up behind him, Demolisher braced both hands on the ground, leaning over the other two. Sideways flattened himself as best he could, already trying to crawl around behind the excavator. Demolisher did not stop him, instead focusing on Barricade, whose anger had been interrupted, at least momentarily.

"Explain," Demolisher commanded.

"He was sending an encrypted message using an Autobot frequency," Barricade growled, barely containing himself. "_Ratting_ us out, to a-"

"Enough," Demolisher said evenly, though loud enough to stop the interceptor in the middle of his sentence. The excavator had to twist slightly to see the crumpled form next to him. "Sideways."

The Audi said nothing, and the excavator could feel him shaking where he was pressed into his wheel. Something warm and wet slithered down this armor; a brief glance told him it was Energon.

"_Sideways_," Demolisher repeated, tone harsher than before. The silver Audi shook his head, refusing to look at either of them. The movement made him readjust his grip on his wounded shoulder, and Demolisher saw the Energon he had bled onto the side of his wheel.

"He knows I caught him!" Barricade filled in the silence, starting forward once again, only to be blocked by a large hand.

"Sideways," the excavator was rapidly losing patience with Audi, suspicious of his actions, though not in the same way that Barricade was. "Explain yourself."

He was met with silence for a few more moments, which only seemed to prove his guilt to the Mustang. When Sideways did respond, it was so quiet the Constructicon nearly missed it: "Ratchet."

"Your accusations have some truth to them," Demolisher straightened up at once, regarding Barricade with indifference. "He was contacting an Autobot, but he did not betray us."

"How do you know that?" Barricade snarled, optics darting between the two 'Cons.

"It's not unthinkable for an injured Cybertronian to contact a medic from the opposing faction," the excavator said evenly. Did it happen often? Certainly not, but he had seen it at least once or twice before Sideways had shown up.

"He's not injured," Barricade growled, clearly unconvinced. When Demolisher said nothing, he added: "Well, he wasn't."

"We will be leaving this area in less than 24 hours," the Constructicon finally said. "Even if he did alert the Autobots, which I highly doubt, there will be more than enough time to make ourselves scarce."

"You _trust_ him?" Barricade practically howled. "You really think he called the Autobot medic just to -"

"I _know _what he did," Demolisher boomed with startling finality, so much that the Mustang back pedaled, half expecting a blow. "And I also know that _you_ are a liar."

The silence that met his statement was practically tangible, hanging over them like a shroud. When Barricade spoke, his tone was tight and rigid: "You think I'm lying about him contacting an Autobot?"

"Your reputation proceeds you, Barricade," Demolisher said. "But I do believe you, because Sideways had reason to contact the medic. You, however, have no valid reason for wanting to retrieve Scorponok so badly. While it would be an asset, we don't really need it around, do we?"

Barricade did not respond, four red optics boring holes into the excavator. Sideways continued to make himself as invisible as possible, keeping his hand flat against the wound on his shoulder. The bleeding had slowed, but his posture was tense, unsure of what would happen next.

"What is Scorponok doing in Egypt?" Demolisher asked bluntly.

"I don't know," Barricade replied at once.

"I already went through this once with Sideways," the Constructicon said, his tone making the Audi try to lie lower than dirt. "You get one last chance to tell me."

"Or what?" Barricade snapped, flexing his claws again. "You'll wrap a chain around my neck and drag me around like a pet, just like Sideways?"

"That's not a bad idea," Demolisher said airily, despite how much that comment really grated him. Drone, symbiote, _pet_ were all far too synonymous given his current situation. Sideways was none of those things to him, even if the Audi did nip at his wheel like a faithful little terran canine. "But for right now, let's concentrate on Blackout's pet, and why it's obsessed with Egypt."

"All it said," Barricade began slowly, as if his patience had worn thin. "Was that Blackout had found something while they were in the Middle East. It's continuing his search."

"Well it certainly wasn't the Cube," Demolisher said. "What did he find?"

"I don't _know_," the Mustang growled, shaking his head in frustration. "I _don't_."

Demolisher considered, watching the Mustang as he waited for an answer. The interceptor certainly did not enjoy feeling pressured or bossed around, but Demolisher had needed a way to take the spotlight off of Sideways. Barricade was clever enough to figure out his rouse, but at the moment he appeared too strung out. He knew it would get dragged out into the light before long, but the business with the parasite and Ratchet wasn't anything Barricade needed to concern himself with right now.

"The next freighter ship will load us at seven o'clock," Demolisher finally said. "It will take us to Yemen. From there, we will see if your knowledge of Blackout's 'findings' gets any better. Until then, get out of my sight."

He felt like he was telling off Sideways on their first night, but distance would do them all some good at this point. The Mustang had already transformed, dirt flying as he peeled out and took off, engine roaring in the dead of night. Despite what he'd wanted, the excavator had managed to alienate Barricade in an effort to protect Sideways. The ghost symbiote program was going to have to be purged soon, at least so he could stop blaming it for his poor decisions.

Demolisher waited until Barricade was out of range before turning to Sideways, who remained curled up on the ground next to him. Without the caustic Mustang to distract him, he felt an odd, distant pain. It was not localized, merely hovering somewhere in the back of his consciousness, and Demolisher suddenly disliked the little courier at his side. He was _not_ going to be dealing with Sideways' problems for the rest of his considerable life.

"Sit up," Demolisher told him, keeping his tone neutral without betraying his thoughts. "Let's see it."

Sideways obeyed instantly, pushing himself up and presenting his injured shoulder to the Constructicon. He shied away when the larger mech leaned down to investigate, but was stopped when a hand pressed against his back.

"Is there a reason you felt it necessary to contact Autobot Ratchet?" he asked lowly, even though Barricade was long gone. Wheelie was still nearby, however, and might try to win points with Barricade by spying on them.

"I just -" Sideways winced when Demolisher brought his hand around, one finger prodding at the wound. "I just wanted to, um, thank him."

"So very thoughtful of you," the Constructicon rumbled, and Sideways looked at his feet. "You must remember that Barricade is suspicious of everyone because he does not trust them, or himself."

Sideways shifted uncomfortably as Demolisher continued to probe his wound, making certain the ruptured fuel line was sealed and on its way to healing. Severed wires still sparked, making the Audi twitch, but the pain level was acceptable.

"Do not contact the medic again, or even speak of anything concerning him," Demolisher continued. "I will continue to monitor your vitals."

"Okay," Sideways said flatly, still staring at the grass below him. He was less frightened now, but he looked resigned and defeated. _Drag me around like a pet, just like –_ Demolisher shook his head, shoving Barricade's words to the far recesses of his memory banks. The Mustang knew how to pry under armor and manipulate just as well as any Decepticon. Unfortunately, he had somehow realized that Sideways was a weak point for Demolisher, who still found the notion somewhat odd.

"You will be safe," Demolisher said, wondering what in the world would possess him to say _that_. Sideways looked up at him sharply, as if debating the honesty of his words.

"So Yemen's the last stop?" Sideways asked, changing the subject for both their sakes.

"Yes," Demolisher replied, one finger pushing away Sideways' hand as it reached up to mess with his shoulder.

"Oh," said Sideways, letting his hand fall. "What about pirates?"

"Pirates?"

"You know, Somalian pirates."

"You're worried about Somalian pirates."

Sideways had the good graces to look somewhat embarrassed, but Demolisher could only laugh. It was more of a low chuckle than anything else, but the Audi relaxed, probably realizing that his fears were not only unfounded, but misplaced. While the excavator returned to his alt mode, Sideways spread out on the ground once again, staring up at something only he could see. Neither of them could find Cybertron, even on the clearest night, but Sideways always tried. Home never felt farther away than when it was just beyond reach.

* * *

_A/N: As a short disclaimer, I'd like to mention that I know absolutely nothing about trading/shipping routes in the Pacific or Indian Ocean. I'm throwing darts at Google Maps here, people.  
_

Ripper22: _As far as 'official canon' goes, Ironhide ran Barricade off the road just before the battle at Mission City. He survived, and has been evading NEST ever since. I'm not too sad about his absence in ROTF, considering he probably would have shown up long enough to get blown up!_

P.A.W.07: _Good guess! And yes, Scorponok is definitely cuter. As for the not-so-cute parasite, Demolisher's got other problems to deal with. Hint: it ain't pirates ;)_

_And thanks again to everyone else who's reviewed/fav'd/alerted!  
_


	5. Chapter 5

_Egypt_

"It's right down next to – what are you doing? I said the _auxiliary_ feed, not my slagging coolant line."

"They, uh, they all look the same to me."

"Alright, well – just follow the coolant line up to it's dock, and – _now_ what are you doing?"

"This – I don't know, it's in the way!"

"Leave it alone. Do you still have the coolant line?"

"Yeah."

"It should terminate near my alt mode's drive shaft. Do you see it?"

"...no."

"It's hard to miss, Sideways."

"I'm not a mechanic! I've never done anything like this before!"

Demolisher held in his irritation, falling silent only to let Sideways take a break. He felt the other 'Con recline against his shoulder, presumably frustrated and more than a little embarrassed about his inability to perform a simple repair. It wasn't life threatening or all that urgent, but Demolisher didn't like to let even a frayed wire go long without attention. Unfortunately, Sideways lacked the know-how when it came to performing simple engineering feats.

"What's Barricade doing?" Demolisher could only see so much when he was flat on the ground between his wheels, arms spread out. The cab of his alt mode was taller than the armor he typically had, so he could not see around his own shoulders with just his optics. He felt Sideways shift on his perch before slouching back down.

"Still staring off into space," Sideways replied. Of course, Barricade was doing far more than that, but he hadn't moved in hours. Demolisher could hear him broadcasting a drone recall signal, though the radius was only ten miles. It was a stretch to think Scorponok would be that close in such a large desert, but widening the radius meant risking exposure to the Autobots. Since their altercation in Sri Lanka, Demolisher found himself all but shunned by Barricade and, by extension, Wheelie. They would have been split down the middle were it not for the fact that Wheelie didn't like _any_ of them.

So, they resigned themselves to waiting, and Demolisher decided to put Sideways' small hands to use and get some maintenance done. Much to his disappointment, Sideways turned out to know even less about field repairs than Demolisher. It just confirmed how little time he spent in or near battles, or near wounded units of any kind. As far as Demolisher was concerned, there were things _every_ mech should know about basic Cybertronian mechanics. He was not an expert by any means, but it was impossible not to pick up on some things when working alongside the likes of Scrapper and Hightower. Knowing something as simple as how to seal ruptured fuel lines could very well be the only thing standing between life and permanent deactivation.

"You don't have to be a mechanic," Demolisher said, idly lifting his left hand and letting it fall again. "Haven't you had any field training?"

"No," the reply was so quiet, Demolisher almost missed it.

"You were doing fine with Scorponok," he pressed, wondering if Sideways was just pretending to be ignorant. There was no reason he could think of for that sort of behavior, though.

"That was just resealing the armor!" Sideways said defensively. "Wouldn't let me do anything else anyways..."

Thinking back on it, Demolisher realized Scorponok had resisted anything they had tried on it outside of fueling and armor repair. Sideways had been wise enough to keep his hands away from the scorpions tail, but a quick scan had told them it had been healing fine without needing any help. He wondered how it was doing now, hiding in the desert from friend and foe alike.

"Then come here," Demolisher said, lifting his hand again to try and move Sideways. "I've got something to help you."

"Now?" Sideways sounded skeptical, but he quickly scrambled out of the way of Demolisher's hand. He probably thought he was going to get picked up, which they both knew he resented a great deal. Honestly, Demolisher hadn't met a Cybertronian that enjoyed being carried around like that.

"What else are we going to do?" Demolisher asked, turning his head as Sideways crawled across his split cab, carefully choosing his footing. He looked a bit unsettled, as if worried he was going to step on something important. Eventually he settled for gripping the railing on Demolisher's cab, looking down at him apprehensively.

"Well," Sideways sounded like he had a good reason, but fell silent for a moment, realizing he actually didn't. "Shouldn't we, uh, help Barricade?"

"He's fine," Demolisher said. "Let me upload some data files to you. Scrapper wrote them, so they might be somewhat wordy, but they get the point across."

"Can't we just watch a movie?" Sideways pleaded.

"What, like _The Mummy_?" the prone Constructicon snorted. There was a hint of a smile on Sideways' face, but it was quickly buried under his front of defiance. "Use your time more practically."

After that, Sideways accepted the files Demolisher had presented to him, settling down to sort through them while they waited. It was obvious that Sideways was not the type to study something that he had no interest in; his constant fidgeting was keeping Demolisher from powering down to a light recharge.

"Haven't seen _The Mummy Returns_ yet," he heard Sideways mutter. Demolisher looked up at him, but the silver 'Con merely looked in the other direction. He was probably trying to hide his attempt to control his laughter. So much for concentrating on something useful.

"What's Barricade doing?" Demolisher asked, checking a sigh If nothing practical was going to get done, he might as well continue keeping tabs on the Mustang. Sideways pushed himself up, peering over Demolisher's shoulder-cab.

"Uh," Sideways said not-so-eloquently. "Panicking?"

Sideways yelped as Demolisher suddenly jerked, making a grab for the railing as the larger 'Con pushed himself upright. Sand cascaded down both of them as Demolisher's wheel rose up above him, body twisting to see Barricade. He was headed straight for them, Wheelie racing with him as fast as his little tires would take him. Whatever the problem was, it had Barricade spooked, but -

"No!" Barricade screamed, at the same time the sand between them exploded. Demolisher turned his head away to avoid getting the grit in his face, and he felt Sideways hug closer to his frame, nearly losing his grip as his perch jerked again. Turning back, Barricade and Wheelie were no longer in sight, swallowed by a cloud of dust and sand. Out of that cloud came a metallic scorpion, shrieking with such fury it made Demolisher's dermal sensors stand on end.

The scales on Scorponok's tail rippled, and Demolisher realized too late that it was charging its weapons. The drone opened fire, hitting Demolisher in the left shoulder. His shields deflected any serious damage from the blast, but the force of the impact caused him to recoil. Caught off guard, Sideways lost his grip on his shoulder and slid off, landing in a heap on the sand. Barricade came sprinting out of the dust, making a grab for Scorponok as it went straight for Sideways. Too slow by seconds, the scorpion struck out at the silver 'Con.

Sideways barely had the time to roll out of the way before the drone's fully-intact stinger impaled his head, scrambling madly in the sand. Retracting its tail, Scorponok lashed out with one claw, clipping Sideways' heel and causing him to stumble. Barricade came at it again, but was repelled as Scorponok knocked him down with one swat of its tail. It went at Sideways again, claws spinning even as he lifted his own saws to try and drive it back. Concentrating on the claws, Sideways was unprepared for the strike from Scorponok's tail, the stinger burying deep into his midsection before he knew it was moving. He howled in pain, systems staggering to a halt as the damage set off a cascade of vital warnings.

Demolisher, having been passive until the drone skewered Sideways, lurched into action. Scorponok dodged Demolisher's hand before it got crushed, yanking its tail out of Sideways and scurrying around Barricade as he tried to box it in between them. Demolisher shoved Barricade away, not wanting to have to distinguish between targets in such close quarters. In the time it took him to remove the Mustang, Scorponok was already burrowing into the sand, quickly disappearing. Faster than even he thought possible, Demolisher snagged its tail, pulling it back out of the ground roughly. That sort of treatment might damage the drone's spinning claws, but Demolisher did not care, feeling only screaming pain in the deep recesses of his processor.

Scorponok tried to pull its body around to strike him with its claws, but Demolisher simply tossed it into the air. It screeched as it went up, only to be silenced when Demolisher's other hand caught it, fingers crushing so tightly he heard one of its claws and several legs break. Demolisher dropped the crumbled drone, which hit the sand with a keen of pain before curling into a defensive position.

"If you don't get it under control _now_, I will kill it," Demolisher said to Barricade, who was already dashing to the drone's side. Demolisher turned to inspect Sideways, unable to ignore him due to the phantom pains hovering outside of his consciousness. Sideways had his arms wrapped around his middle, but was still standing even as vital fluids dripped down his legs.

"It didn't hit anything important," Sideways said at once, balking under Demolisher's scrutinizing stare. Unless he was mistaken, Demolisher believed the silver 'Con was putting on a front, not wanting to look weak in front of Barricade – or him. He supposed it was admirable for Sideways to try out being brave, but the trait did not suit him in the least. The timing was incredibly bad as well, since the damage looked like it was far more than cosmetic upon closer inspection.

"Barricade, does Scorponok use any sort neural toxin or poison in its stinger?" Demolisher asked, sparing the Mustang a brief glance. Scorponok was behaving itself, though it wailed pitifully as Barricade pulled apart its command console. He was standing on its tail as well, even though the fight had gone out of it once Demolisher crushed it.

"It has before," Barricade replied, claws digging under the scorpion's armor as it wailed. After inspecting it for a moment, he said: "The tank is dry. It hasn't had any poison in here for a long time. Blackout wasn't one for incapacitating enemies anyways – just killing them."

"Come here," Demolisher demanded of Sideways, who didn't budge. It occurred to him that if Sideways did step forward, he'd probably fall over, meaning the injury was worse than it looked. Reaching out with one long arm, he snatched up the Audi, feeling him shudder in both his hand and in the back of his mind. Dropped callously to the ground, Sideways landed on his aft, grimacing in pain. "Open up."

Somewhat reluctantly, Sideways pulled his arms away from his middle, revealing the gaping wound. It was worse than what Barricade had done to his shoulder in Sri Lanka, and located in the exact spot where Ratchet had extracted the parasite. He had healed perfectly from both encounters, but Demolisher could not understand how unfortunate one mech could be so consistently. The pain he was receiving from across the link was intense, more intrusive than anything he had felt from Sideways before. He was already furious about being attacked by the drone, and the uncomfortable reminder of the symbiosis put him in an even worse mood.

"You are a _lightning rod_ for _disaster_," Demolisher snarled, uncaring of the abashed expression on Sideways' face. He lifted his arms to cover himself again, but was stopped when Demolisher brushed them away with one finger. "It nicked your secondary fuel line, cut through your radiator, dislocated several of your structural vertebrae and yet it _didn't hit anything important_. Lie to me again and you'll be worse off than that miserable drone."

Demolisher reared back, twisting himself around to deal with Barricade and Scorponok. As soon as Demolisher rolled past him, Sideways wrapped his arms around himself again, shaking in pain and anguish. Whatever pity or concern he felt for the Audi was rapidly diminishing with his growing irritation about the entire situation. Scorponok was almost entirely limp by now, several wires connecting it to Barricade, who had perched on top of the drone.

"It saw us as a threat," Barricade said, before Demolisher could ask. He cast a glance over at Sideways, then returned his attention to the drone beneath him. "For some reason, Blackout's orders were so specific it meant excluding any other Cybertronian, _especially_ Decepticons."

"I noticed it did not attack _you_," Demolisher said hotly, watching the drone try to curl into itself more. "It intentionally targeted myself and Sideways, but just batted you out of the way."

"Give me some time to sort it out," Barricade snapped, dodging any commentary on who Scorponok had attacked and why. Demolisher wasn't going to let it go for long; Barricade had obviously known what Scorponok's intentions were when he'd been running at them. "It would be more trusting if you hadn't _crushed_ it."

"May be it shouldn't have impaled Sideways without any warning," Demolisher snarled back. What was Barricade talking about, being more trusting? Considering it had gone on the offensive before they knew what it was doing, it clearly didn't trust them to begin with. "Sort it out, otherwise I'm putting it out of its misery."

Barricade did not respond, and Demolisher turned back to check on Sideways. He did not acknowledge Demolisher's approach, listing to the side as the shock seemed to finally be sinking in. Demolisher felt little regret for what he had said, but his patience had already been tested repeatedly over the months. Still, he forced himself to calm down, doing his best to push Sideways' pain as far from his central processor as possible. Watching the drone hurt him like that had triggered something in Demolisher that he didn't understand. He had felt overprotective before, but it usually only happened when Rampage was tormenting Scavenger, or some other innocent bystander.

Finding some untapped reserved of patience within him, Demolisher reached out to Sideways and pushed him upright with one finger. He remained like that for only a moment, before leaning to the other side. Sideways shuddered as he readjusted his grip around his middle, the feeling trickling through Demolisher's sensors quite unpleasantly. The stinger had not gone all the way through his chassis, but the damage it had done indicated Scorponok was aiming to incapacitate more then anything else.

"Are your self repair systems working properly?" he asked, trying, and probably failing, to keep his tone even and calm. Sideways nodded his head dully, not even looking at Demolisher. No matter how badly he wanted to ask Sideways to send him a scan of his vitals, he didn't dare with Barricade so close. The silver 'Con seemed intent on putting up his front of bravado. If he had the strength to do that, Demolisher reasoned, then he would be alright.

"Where's Wheelie?" Sideways' question caused both Demolisher and Barricade to look at him sharply, but the latter turned his head westwards.

"Under the sand," Barricade said, going back to what he was doing with the scorpion. "Scorponok must have buried him in his attack."

There was silence, until Sideways asked: "Aren't you going to get him?"

"Let him rust," Barricade snorted. "I'm busy."

With some effort, Sideways stood up, limping off in the direction that Barricade had looked. Demolisher watched his gait with interest, noting how he favored his right side. Not only were his systems still rattled, but his spinal structure was still dislocated. He should not be walking, or doing much of anything, until that had time to heal. By all rights, Demolisher should not have cared or been the least bit concerned for Sideways' well being, seeing as he'd probably find a way to damage himself again.

"Sideways, sit down," Demolisher commanded, despite himself. Without turning around, Sideways complied, plopping down in the sand with another muffled grunt of pain. Demolisher rolled forward, scanners already probing the desert floor, picking up the drone's distress signal easily. Digging two hooked fingers into the sand, he sifted about until he hit metal, pulling the little mech up without any resistance. Sputtering and coughing up sand, the drone writhed about on the ground for a few moments, before Demolisher got bored with his theatrics and turned to leave him.

"What's the big idea!" Wheelie shrieked, his ire aimed at Barricade. "How long were you gonna leave me down there, huh? You got some -"

"Be _silent_," Barricade snapped, though he didn't bother to face Wheelie at all. "Or I'll let Scorponok finish the job!"

Wheelie's cursing subsided to angry mutters, and he gave Barricade and Scorponok wide berth. Deciding he might be safer with the others, he followed Demolisher over to where Sideways was languishing.

"Whoa!" Wheelie said, crawling on Sideways' leg to get a closer look at the damage. "What'd it do, make a shish kabob outta ya? Nasty old thing, got all it's bad habits from Blackout -"

"You would do well not to speak about Blackout like that in my presence," Barricade warned, tone holding a very dark promise to it. Wheelie shot him a cold look, but shut up, much to Demolisher's relief. He wanted to pry the blue drone off of Sideways, who wasn't going to heal if he was being pestered like that. Much to his surprise, Sideways suddenly shoved the drone off of him, wincing as the movement caused him more pain.

"Hey, I was just helpin'!" Wheelie shouted indignantly, shaking sand off of himself like some freakish canine.

"Stay away from me," Sideways said, though his tone was flat, lacking all the anger and vehemence that Barricade's warnings always had.

"I was _help_ -" Wheelie retreated quickly when Demolisher moved forward, towering over Sideways' back.

"What is your function?" Demolisher asked the drone, ignoring Sideways when he looked up at him. The silver 'Con's shoulders bunched up, as if afraid something was going to happen to him even if he wasn't being addressed.

"I'ma salvage drone!" Wheelie answered defiantly, before backing up again when Demolisher braced his hands on either side of Sideways.

"Tell me," Demolisher said. "How often do you _salvage_ parts from functioning units?"

"A job's a job!" Wheelie shot back, optics darting back and forth, looking for somewhere to escape and hide. Unfortunately for him, there was nothing but sand for endless miles.

"I agree," the Constructicon said, nodding once. "In fact, do you want to know why they call me Demolisher?"

Wheelie did not. Without another biting comment, the drone transformed and took off, tiny engine buzzing as it struggled to gain speed. Demolisher watched him leave with a snort. "Good riddance."

"Demolisher," Sideways' voice was very small, almost trembling. Demolisher looked towards Barricade, who was fully absorbed in his task with Scorponok. If he was listening, he was doing an excellent job pretending he wasn't. "It really hurts."

Sideways fidgeted a bit when Demolisher transformed to his alt mode, watching the excavator curiously as he pulled himself up between the silver 'Con and Barricade's line of sight. It also cast a shadow over Sideways, whose damaged radiator was not faring well in the glaring sun. Quietly, and cautiously, Sideways inched closer to Demolisher, finally slumping against his alt mode. He might not carry sedatives or painkillers, but Demolisher knew the importance of peace of mind. Without Barricade glaring at him, Sideways could rest easy and continue to let his self repair systems do their work.

Wheelie had not gone too far, simply ducking out of sight over the nearest sand dune. Barricade continued to work with Scorponok, still sitting on top of it and keeping them hardwired. The Mustang looked distracted, though Demolisher could not help but notice the hand he had laid over Scorponok's head. Otherwise deadly claws stroked in between Scorponok's optics, rendering the drone practically catatonic and entirely pliant.

Demolisher regarded the slight figure that was currently using him as a backrest. What, exactly, was the distinction between a drone and a common mech like Sideways? It wasn't size, as Scorponok was nearly as large as Barricade's alt mode. It couldn't be free will, as Scorponok was far more capable of acting independently than Sideways. Demolisher could think it over all day and all night and probably never figure it out. Once again, waiting seemed to be his sole option, considering only time would heal Sideways as well as allow Barricade to decipher Scorponok's behavior. Whether or not Barricade would give them the truth remained to be seen.

Even with Soundwave's impending arrival hanging over their heads, there was no hurry to be anywhere or get anything done. He just couldn't understand why that made him feel like they were running out of time.

* * *

At half past three in the morning, a familiar comm channel flared to life on Demolisher's radio. It was one that he always kept open, but had been silent due to his distance from the other party. The voices that flowed over it stirred up a well of emotions within him, ranging from ecstatic to relieved, and a heavy dose of anticipation. Minding his slumbering companion, Demolisher transformed, craning his head up towards the moon to get a better signal. Below him, Sideways stirred, making a small noise as his injury protested the movement.

"What is it?" Sideways asked, looking up at him through the dark.

"Listen," Demolisher said, pointing one finger upwards and broadcasting the comm channel so they could all hear it. Four pinpricks of red light told him Barricade was watching them, but he did not leave Scorponok or say anything. Seven voices filled the air, distorted by the long distance and interference.

"-_so then he said, that's not a negavator, that's my drone!_"

"_I'm pretty sure that's the fifth time you've told that slagging joke._"

"_Seventh time, actually._"

"_It was not!_"

"_Well it wasn't funny the first time. Or the second time, or the third-_"

"_No one asked you!"_

"_Hey, wow, there's a lot of water on that planet._"

"_Approximately 71% of the surface is covered in water, most of it salt oceans, with the toposphere -_"

"_Great, now you've got him going._"

"_I was just making an observation!_"

"_Go crash in the ocean and then make your observation!_"

"Constructicons," Demolisher explained, seeing the confused, yet interested, look on Sideways' face. "And they're close."

The voices of his teammates gradually began to talk over one another, separate conversations pulling them in different directions. He could see Sideways struggling to pinpoint who was talking about what, something that Demolisher had no trouble doing whatsoever.

"_-startin' something with me -_" Long Haul.

"_-causes leakages of hydrogen atoms beyond gravitation pull, though most bond with oxygen-_" Mixmaster.

"_-the entire city is gone because only a pack of renegade Autobots had the smarts to stand up to-_" Scrapper.

"_-can tell that slagger to go stick his head in a smelting pool-_" Rampage.

"-_tell me that you don't think there isn't valid recourse for-_" Overload.

"-_a disastrous occurrence that only proves his inability to-_" Hightower.

"_Hey, Demo's in range_!" Scavenger, whose words resulted in such terrible cacophony that Demolisher had to cut the broadcast. Even as he did so, a queue of personal comm channels suddenly piled up on his radio, the most important one flagged from Scrapper. He would speak with his leader first, knowing most of the others would grow bored with waiting and drop off his list.

"They're coming to Earth?" Sideways asked, waiting a few moments after the silence.

"Yes," said Demolisher, barely keeping his tone subdued. "Which means we'll have some _real_ direction shortly."

Scrapper had already uploaded their current position and estimated planetfall. Finally, after so many long months plodding across this dusty planet, Demolisher could provide them with something useful to do. He could not adequately explain how happy this made him, especially coupled with the fact that he would be reunited with his team. Certainly Scavenger would -

There was a sudden, unexpected feeling of disappointment weighing his thoughts down, and he instinctively looked towards Sideways. He hadn't moved any closer to Demolisher after he'd transformed, and was now attempting to put some distance between them. Confused, Demolisher neglected to acknowledge Scrapper's hails as he considered Sideways' unhappy attitude. It came to him only a moment later; the arrival of the other Constructicons threatened his place alongside Demolisher. He had probably enjoyed being the center of Demolisher's attention, as well as being defended from the likes of Barricade. Sideways was probably a little afraid as well; several of the Constructicons had violent reputations even by Decepticon standards.

He would deal with Sideways' crippling anxieties later. For now, he ignored the other 'Con in favor of opening the private channel from Scrapper. There was, after all, so very much that needed discussing.

* * *

_A/N: _Ripper22:_ If he's in the third movie, let's hope it's a cool cameo and not an unnecessary death scene!  
_

icys: _Thanks for your review. I admit I'm guilty of making Demolisher much smarter than his bio gives him credit for, but it also seems to hint that he's leading the group of 'Cons he's with. Plus, to me, the word 'stupid' and 'Constructicon' don't fit in the same sentence._

_Thanks to everyone else for the reviews and such!  
_


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Warning, massive wall of radio chatter incoming!_

_

* * *

_

Uploading transmissions queue.

Primary contact: Scrapper. Priority: High.

Connecting to primary contact...

"- _I said I'd get to it in a moment._"

"_I'm sorry?_"

"_Oh, my apologies Demolisher, wrong channel._"

"_What do you mean wrong channel? Scrapper, I can hear you _and_ Demolisher now._"

"_Rampage, get off this frequency._"

"_Hey, I was here fir-_"

Static.

"_Honestly._ _Demolisher, we'll be arriving on Earth in less than 10 hours. What is your current location?"_

"_South of Nag Hammadi, Egypt."_

"_A bit of a ways off. We're making landfall in North America – Newfoundland to be exact. Considering we're out of range of the Earth satellites, we could use whatever information you've collected on this planet._"

"_Sure, I'll upload what I've got right now. I've got some alt mode recs for you as well. Depending on where you land, it's not always easy to find something right away_."

"_Appreciated. Are you alone?_"

"_No. I've been traveling with Barricade, Wheelie and Sideways. We've only just found Scorponok._"

"_Good, good..._"

"_Scrapper?_"

"_I am sorry, Demolisher. I'm stretched a bit thin at the moment. Have you had any trouble with the local Autobots? Communications have not been the best between Earth and Cybertron._"

"_I've noticed. And no, we've managed to stay under the radar. According to Barricade, they've been cooperating with the American military._"

"_We've gathered as much. While the humans are primitive, they have proven to be a considerable threat. Even more so with Prime declaring the planet a veritable Autobot haven._"

"_Don't remind me. While I'm glad you're all coming, what's the occasion?_"

"_Our primary mission is that of riving Lord Megatron. In order to do that, however, we must find the location of the Allspark shard, as well as Lord Megatron's body. The lack of information coming out of your position is making everyone on Cybertron impatient._"

"_Where did this shard come from anyways? Barricade mentioned it once before._"

"_Well, it was Barricade that discovered it to begin with. Apparently Prime handed the shard over to the American military for, ah, 'safe keeping'. It seems Barricade's intel gathering methods have suffered since the Autobots hooked their claws into the human communications network._"

"_That's more than I've learned from him since I arrived. So all we know is that the humans have the Allspark shard and Lord Megatron's corpse?_"

"_Among other minor details, that is correct. What is your current assignment?_"

"_I don't _have_ a current assignment, Scrapper. We've been sightseeing for months now._"

"_... you've received no orders whatsoever?_"

"_The last thing I heard was 'orders pending' from _you_. All I got out of Barricade was that Soundwave was coming with more Decepticons, per the Fallen's orders._"

"_Well, that is incredibly dated news. I assure you, once we're squared away on Earth, I will see to it that all of these inane loose ends are wrapped up._"

"_It still astounds me that more hasn't been done on Earth before now_."

"_May be you shouldn't be such a whiner, Demo, you've scared everyone off._"

"_Rampage, I told you to get off this frequency._"

"_Yeah, yeah..._"

"_Anyways... Demolisher, we can gladly blame Starscream for the delay. I cannot adequately express my eagerness to restore Lord Megatron as the rightful leader of our faction. Now, before we're interrupted again, is there anything else we need to discuss?_"

"_There is one last thing. I have something of a... problem._"

"_How disappointing. Demolisher, usually you're so well behaved._"

"_Ha ha. I am sorry to push this on you, but it has the potential to become a serious problem._"

"_What is it?_"

"_Sideways. When he arrived, he was carrying a parasite that was consuming all of his Energon. In order to keep him alive, I had to carry him like a drone, and initiated a host/symbiote program. Long story short, the parasite is gone, but the symbiote connection did not fully sever. There are no longer any hardlines, but I can still _feel_ him._"

"..."

"_Scrapper?_"

"_Forgive me, Demolisher, I'm trying to filter seventeen different requests, complaints and commands at once, including preventing Mixmaster from deviating off course. I am not ignoring you. Give me a moment_."

"..."

"_What do you mean, _y_ou 'feel' him_?"

"_I've never had a drone before, but I'm assuming that's what's happening. It's strongest when he experiences extreme emotions or is in considerable pain, and those emotions are broadcasted right through my processor. Since he's something of a magnet for trouble, it happens more often than I like."_

"_Upload every line of code that you wrote, as well as the diagnostic scans you ran on the link. Did you record the data exchange during the symbiosis? I'll need that as well. Ah, and every instance in which you 'felt' it, so I can correlate and assess. Does he know?"_

"_I haven't told him, and he hasn't made any indication that he knows._"

"_Keep it that way, in case he turns out to be the manipulative type. Have you used the link for anything, or is it just the unwelcome data uploads_?"

"_I... used it to calm him down a few times._"

"_Another charity case, then? Demolisher, one of these days that's going to bite you in the aft. Actually, it already _has_, judging by what you've gotten yourself into_."

"_Thanks for the vote of confidence."_

"_Well,_ _I'll look into it. In the meantime, you might want to talk to Scavenger. He's been waiting quite patiently to speak with you._"

"_I know. And thanks._"

"..."

"..."

"_...Rampage?_"

"_No, Scavenger. Just me._"

"_Oh, good. I think Long Haul managed to distract Rampage enough to keep him from eavesdropping._"

"_And what about you?_"

"_Ah, well... should I be worried about Sideways replacing me?_"

"_What do you think?_"

"_Just checking. I'm sorry things have been rough for you on Earth. We're all so relieved to have the Fallen back in our ranks. Hightower says it was worth the hassle just to see the look on Starscream's face when he found out he wasn't replacing Megatron._"

"_I'd've liked to have seen that. Listen, I sent Scrapper some recommendations for alt modes. With any luck, the model I've chosen for you is available where you make landfall. It took me forever to find something suitable, as most Earth vehicles are small._"

"_Wow, thanks! So, what _have_ you been doing on Earth this whole time?_"

"_We've been waiting for Soundwave's arrival for weeks now. How is that you've beaten him here?_"

"_What? But – Soundwave left for Earth long before we did! In fact, Scrapper has to stop to see him before entering the atmosphere anyways!_"

"_...Soundwave has been here the entire time?_"

"_I can't believe he hasn't contacted you! Oh, there must be some sort of mistake, or -_"

"_-or he likes spying on his subordinates when he doesn't need them. Either way, I don't feel any better about it._"

"_I'll let Scrapper know – he really hasn't said _anything_?_"

"_Not unless he's been speaking with Barricade, who will only take the time to tell me where to stick my alternator._"

"_Oh. Sounds like he'd get along with Rampage._"

"_I think they'd kill each other._"

"_Long Haul, then?_"

"_No, Barricade has very low tolerance for griping. He might get on with Overload, if only because they'd ignore each other._"

"_Hm. Well, I don't -_"

"_...Scavenger?_"

"_Oh, Demolisher, I've got to go. Scrapper says we need a communications blackout because there's an Autobot ship nearby._"

"_Be careful. See you soon._"

"..."

"..."

Signal lost. Transmission terminated.

* * *

_A/N: Bit of a filler chapter, but there were some things that needed to be said._

Ripper22: _Thanks for the suggestions! Once this is done I plan on spending some time on my G1 fics, actually. They will, of course, feature Decepticons, since they are my preferred faction as well._ _I do have two other movie-verse fics on ffdotnet, both of them starring Blackout. I'm glad you're enjoying the story._


	7. Chapter 7

The sunrise had probably been amazing, Demolisher supposed, if he'd even noticed that it had happened. His attention was focused solely on tracking the progress of the Constructicons, each passing hour bringing them that much closer to Earth. Radio silence had been enforced by Scrapper, but Demolisher had only to be patient to hear from them again. He was vaguely aware of Barricade resuming his work on Scorponok, and at some point during the morning Sideways had returned to his side.

Demolisher ignored them all in favor of tracking his teammates. He had sent out an inquiry to Soundwave, though he had no idea where the Communications Officer was or if he would respond. It wasn't surprising that he didn't show up on radar, as Soundwave had a knack for hiding in plain sight. He tried not to let the thought of being spied on bother him, considering how little privacy he got among even his most trusted comrades.

The hours slid by and the sun climbed higher into the sky, passing its zenith not long before the Constructicons reached their destination. Without radio contact, Demolisher could only guess as to why they split into two groups at the last possible moment, one on target for Newfoundland, the other veering off to Iceland. Content that they had at least successfully made planetfall, he decided to check up on the other 'Cons loitering with him in the desert. A quick look told him not much had changed at all.

Sideways seemed to sense he had finally rejoined them, and shifted away from his wheel. He didn't make it far before Demolisher ran a scan on his vitals.

"How do you feel?" Demolisher asked. Sideways hesitated, but he bared the wound without any prodding or commands.

"I've felt better," Sideways said glumly. It was healing nicely – most of the surface damage had repaired itself, but the more delicate circuitry still had a ways to go. The pain seemed to have lessened as well; at least, Demolisher had only a slight headache, and Sideways did not look overly stressed.

"You're supposed to say 'I've had worse,'" Demolisher said. "It makes you sound tougher."

Sideways said nothing, shifting a bit as if debating whether or not Demolisher was joking. Finally, a small smile passed across his features, swiftly vanishing when Demolisher reached out to him.

"I imagine this will be fully healed within a few days," he said, one large finger passing over the hole once. "Don't walk anywhere until your spinal structure is realigned. Understand?"

"Yeah," said Sideways, nodding once. When Demolisher withdrew his hand, the silver 'Con wrapped one of his arms around his middle. It was a defensive position, Demolisher assumed, because it wasn't like he was holding anything in. Sideways looked past him, obviously still too embarrassed to maintain optic contact. "Hey, what's _that_?"

Demolisher turned his head in the direction Sideways was looking. Barricade stood apart from Scorponok, both of them looking up at the image being projected by the scorpion. It was difficult to make out what it was from their distance. Despite what he'd just agreed to, Sideways stood up, apparently intent on seeing for himself what was happening. Deciding to deal with any objections later, Demolisher scooped Sideways up in one hand, not wanting him to damage himself further. He rolled them both over to where Barricade and the drone were, stopping only a few yards away in case Scorponok wasn't entirely agreeable.

"What have you found?" Demolisher asked, letting Sideways slip out of his hand while he got a better look at the projection. The silver 'Con kept his mouth shut, and Demolisher hoped that meant he understood the mistake he'd just made by trying to walk. Sideways' feelings aside, he was more interested in the broken Cybertronian glyphs shimmering in the air above Scorponok. The drone looked entirely defeated, laying flat and docile on the sand.

"What Blackout was after," Barricade said, gesturing to the glyphs. "These markings were discovered near the pyramids in Giza. He found even more of them during his time in the Middle East, and tracked some records to find a nearly complete set in Nag Hammadi."

"_Nearly _complete?" Sideways asked, cocking his head up at the display.

"The humans foolishly believed carving things into stone meant they would last forever," Barricade snorted. "Erosion has other ideas, so we're left with only the pieces. Scorponok came back to Egypt because it had orders to find the original location of this inscription. It found it, for all the good that does us."

"Humans made these?" Demolisher said, and Barricade nodded. "That's weird."

"Why was it supposed to find the original location?" Sideways asked.

"To make certain the written records were accurate," said Barricade. "Blackout found only fragments of the complete inscription, but one file he retrieved indicated the Library of Nag Hammadi had a full copy. Obviously, the file was wrong. There are two additional glyphs, but it's not the whole thing."

"Oh yeah, you an expert or something?" Wheelie demanded, and Sideways started, not realizing the blue drone had come up beside him. "What's it say?"

"I don't know," Barricade growled. "Scorponok thinks it's incomplete because that's what Blackout told it. This is ancient Cybertronian – I can't even begin to translate it."

"There's something about the dawn and... a sword, or a dagger," Demolisher said, leaning down to see it better.

"How'd you know _that_?" Sideways boggled at him, but Demolisher only shrugged.

"Think for a moment, Sideways," Barricade said, his tone surprisingly neutral. "Try to guess how old Demolisher is."

"Um," Sideways said, looking askance at Demolisher, who kept silent.

"Here's a hint: double your guess, and you're probably halfway there," Barricade said, before leaving Sideways to figure out the math for himself. "Demolisher, can you translate it further?"

"It's the language of the Primes," he said. "I don't read much of it, but I'm certain Scavenger could probably translate it properly. You're right about it being unfinished – what I _can_ translate doesn't make any sense on it's own, and only half of that glyph is present. Otherwise it's just gibberish."

"Well, from what I've gotten out of Scorponok, the humans wrote these glyphs over and over, leaving them all over the world," said Barricade. "Of course, that doesn't mean they were writing them correctly, which explains why parts of it look like nonsense. The source is what we're after, but finding it has proven beyond difficult."

"Wouldn't the source be the Allspark?" Sideways asked, looking hopeful. "I mean, it was here for a long time and -"

"Human history doesn't work that way," Barricade cut him off, deflating his enthusiasm as well. "North America is where the Cube landed, and North America is where the trail of these inscriptions all but dries up. My – Blackout's best guess is that they originated in Egypt, and spread out from there."

"How did Blackout figure all this stuff out?" Sideways asked, watching more human reports and pictures flash by on Scorponok's projection.

"He caught onto it while looking for the Allspark out here," said Barricade. "Naturally, he kept what he found from Starscream, and every one else for that matter. The reports we're looking at now were extracted during his hack attempt in Qatar. He _should_ have had plenty of time to retrieve what we needed about the Cube, but he got bogged down looking for other files. Specifically, top secret files concerning these markings."

"So that's why Scorponok wants to stay in Egypt?" Demolisher asked, though it was mostly a rhetorical question. "That is quite a mystery Blackout uncovered. That message must have been written long before the Cube was ever jettisoned from Cybertron, considering the language that was used."

"Scorponok returned to Egypt, specifically Nag Hammadi, in order to complete Blackout's last attempts at research," said Barricade. "Every appearance of our language is tied to some religious tradition of this miserable species. Even if they _didn't_ see who wrote the inscription, it clearly had a profound effect on their primitive minds."

"What's in Nag Hammock that's so important?" Wheelie asked, receiving a sneer from Barricade.

"Nag _Hammadi_ is home to a significant religious and historical finding, so far as the humans are concerned," said Barricade. "A group of manuscripts were discovered out here, but given the organic materials humans use a means of recording, some of them were damaged or unreadable. Supposedly, at least one human burned several of them in fear of what they might contain, but it is far more likely that they were stolen or hidden by someone else. _Those_ were written in no human language, and the cave where they were uncovered had a portion of the inscription carved into the wall."

"It's probably to much to ask about where those manuscripts wound up," Demolisher said, shaking his head.

"Oh, they're out there. However, Scorponok uncovered a file outlining the _ridiculous_ reasons why none of the manuscripts or records of the markings were digitized," Barricade growled. Even as he spoke, the projections changed to a series of government documents reflecting Barricade's words.

"So only the hard copies exist?" Demolisher asked, and Barricade nodded. "Then we need to find the hard copies. Does Scorponok have any leads?"

"The manuscripts, photos and files were all owned by Sector Seven, a government organization that hounded us for years," Barricade said, his tone less than optimistic.

"'_Were'_?" Sideways frowned.

"Sector Seven was disbanded shortly after the battle in Mission City," Barricade said, shoulders sagging. "All of their facilities were wiped clean and decommissioned. There is no paper trail detailing where any of their physical records wound up. The manuscripts, and any photos of the inscriptions, are almost completely out of reach by now."

"That doesn't mean giving up," said Demolisher. "We've still got part of the message, which I can send to Scavenger for a complete translation, and -"

"That's why Blackout called you here," Barricade said suddenly, head snapping up.

"What?"

"He knew you might be able to decipher it," Barricade went on. "And even if you couldn't, you knew who _could_. Summoning you wouldn't look odd because you're strong on the battlefield, which was what we needed at the time. If he'd asked for Scavenger, Scrapper would have questioned it -"

"Slow down," Demolisher snapped. "You think Blackout ordered me here to help him decipher Cybertronian glyphs, under the cover of providing backup for the fight against the Autobots?"

"...that kinda makes sense," Sideways said after a moment. Demolisher had to agree; it had seemed so strange for only one Constructicon to be called, even if he was the usual loner. Calling Scavenger would have been out of place, and Scrapper would have never agreed to let him go alone.

"So let's get this straight," said Demolisher, hoping most of the puzzle pieces would start fitting together now. "Supposedly, at least one Cybertronian visited this planet and left a message, which was copied and perpetuated by the human's religious sects. Then, by sheer cosmic coincidence, the Cube lands here, leading more Cybertronians back to this planet. While looking for the Cube, Blackout finds out about the message, but most of it has been lost with time. He summons me here to try to further his research, but the discovery of Megatron and the Allspark cut that short, leaving Scorponok to continue by itself. Correct?"

"I'd say that's about the long and short of it," said Barricade. Scorponok chirred once, rolling over in the sand as the projections vanished.

"Explain one last thing to me," said Demolisher, and Barricade nodded, waiting for the question. "Why did Scorponok attack us, specifically Sideways?"

Barricade said nothing for a moment, optics flicking between Demolisher and Sideways. He had obviously not expected being called out on that, and was struggling to come up with a quick answer.

"I told you," he finally said. "Scorponok saw us as a threat because Blackout ordered it to keep what he'd found a secret. It took me half the night to convince it that Blackout probably only meant Starscream, or anyone loyal to him. Sideways is fine, is he not?"

"That's beside the point," Demolisher rumbled, noticing Sideways trying to make himself as small as possible at the mention of his injury. "It could have killed him."

"If Scorponok had wanted to kill him, he would already be dead," Barricade snapped. "Let it go."

"No," said Demolisher. "It targeted _us_, not _you_. That much was obvious, Barricade. I can only imagine what else that drone has told you that you'll never repeat to us -"

"And with good reason!" Barricade hollered. "I've told you what you need to know, so _let it go_."

"Alright," said Demolisher, though he had no intention of doing just that. "I'll accept our presence threatened it given it's orders. I'll even accept that what we've learned about the glyphs is more than enough. What I will _not_ accept is your lack of answer concerning why _you_ were not directly attacked."

Demolisher could practically see steam rising from Barricade as he seethed, jaw grinding in agitation. Demolisher's curiosity was born out of pure selfishness, simply because he had a vague idea as to the reason behind Scorponok's behavior. Barricade had only to confirm it, and Demolisher might have an answer, or at least a clue, to his own troubles.

"Scorponok would not knowingly inflict harm or damage on me," Barricade began, his tone even, though rage brewed just beneath the surface. "We share a ghost symbiosis."

"Ghost – what's that?" Sideways asked, much to Demolisher's surprise. Demolisher himself seized onto the word, instantly searching his databanks for a match.

"I'll explain it in practical terms," said Barricade, obviously unhappy with having to talk about it at all. "A drone has one master host, but it has the ability to connect to secondary hosts. Blackout... asked me to take on Scorponok in case anything, well, _happened_ to him. It is not a _true_ symbiosis, as it is physically impossible for me to support a drone as large as Scorponok, but it's still there. Satisfied?"

Demolisher was not, but he forced himself to nod anyways. Everything Barricade has said was recorded, bundled, and sent directly to Scrapper. His own data banks were blank when it came to the ghost symbiosis, and he considered the possibility that it had been invented on the spot. Demolisher doubted it; Barricade seemed begrudging to give that up, and he could apply it to his situation with ease.

"Then I guess our next goal is to uncover the source and meaning of these glyphs," said Demolisher. He was still anxious to hear from the other Constructicons, and several of them might be interested in what they'd found. Once Soundwave actually paid them any attention, he would be certain to pass it along to him as well. It was still unclear to them what the Fallen intended, aside from finding an Allspark fragment and reviving Megatron. The enigma of the glyphs only added another layer of confusion to the already mangled state of affairs on Earth.

"You do what you want with your Constructicons," Barricade said, barely keeping the malice out of his tone. "I can handle it -"

Barricade stopped when Scorponok suddenly stiffened, picking it head up and looking due north. A moment later, a tiny blip appeared on their radar, speeding directly towards them.

"Predator," Barricade said, instantly recognizing the human signals coming from the approaching aircraft. "If it sees us, we'll be found out, and if we shoot it down, they'll know we're here. Either way..."

"So what do we do?" Sideways asked, already shrinking closer to Demolisher. The Predator would seem a lot less threatening, Demolisher thought, if he saw how small it actually was. Barricade did not seem surprised one was out here, so Demolisher assumed it was halfway normal for spy drones to be sent out across the desert.

"Shoot it," Demolisher said. "We need to leave this area anyways, and I'd rather not let our enemies get a picture of us. Barricade?"

"I can shoot it down before it even sees us," he said, looking up at Demolisher. "I'm going to need some height, though."

Demolisher nodded, holding out one hand for the interceptor. Barricade scaled his frame in no time at all, hauling himself up to the very top of the Constructicon's wheel. Below, Sideways craned his neck to see where he was, but it was impossible from his position. Bracing himself to remain still, Demolisher felt Barricade flatten himself across his wheel, using his elbows to balance his rifle.

Sideways gave up trying to see Barricade and looked out across the desert, trying to catch a glimpse of the Predator. It was still a ways off on their radar, but headed directly south. In perhaps only ten minutes it would be able to take an image of them, but Barricade could shoot it down before then. The technology stolen from Megatron was proof of human ingenuity – but it still failed to compare to the original source.

The drone flew closer and closer. The only motion Demolisher could sense from Barricade was his finger tightening on the trigger, his entire frame tense. As soon as it was shot down, they were going to have to _run_. Demolisher was already plotting the best route for them to take once they reached the city, hoping Sideways was in good enough shape to transform. Barricade shifted only minutely, the Predator coming into range on his scope, long before it would ever see them. It took only nanoseconds for Barricade to take aim, lock on and -

The Predator suddenly veered off, making a sharp turn to the west before doubling back the way it had come. Demolisher felt the muzzle of Barricade's rifle tap his wheel, as the interceptor had lowered it in surprise. They waited for it to turn around again, but after only a few moments, even their long distance radar couldn't detect it.

"Hey, how lucky can you get?" Wheelie grinned, looking up at Sideways, who only shook his head.

"May be... it was low on fuel?" he speculated, jumping slightly when Barricade landed on the ground next to him. Wheelie coughed dramatically as the resulting cloud of sand hit him, but no one paid him any mind.

"It was flying in a straight line," said Barricade, swinging his rifle up over his shoulder. "Either it was recalled, or -"

"_Decepticons, acknowledge_."

"Soundwave," Demolisher said, instantly recognizing the voice that echoed across their radios. "He could hack it and make it go anywhere without raising any flags. Although I'm surprised he didn't use it to check up on us. According to Scavenger, he arrived here not too long ago, but hasn't contacted anyone."

"What!?" Barricade was less than happy with that news. "He's been _spying_ on us?"

"_Decepticons, acknowledge._"

"_We hear you, Soundwave_," Demolisher finally replied over the radio, knowing it wasn't a good idea to keep the Communications Officer hanging. "_Awaiting orders._"

"_Acknowledged,_" Soundwave answered at once. "_Your orders are pending._"

"Give me a credit for every time I hear that..." Demolisher growled, ire rising. Well, if he pushed some buttons, may be could goad Soundwave into giving them something to do. "_Soundwave, we've found evidence of Cybertronian presence on this planet, long before the Cube-_"

"_Acknowledged_," Soundwave cut him off. The word 'acknowledged' was getting about as irritating as constantly hearing 'orders pending'. "_The Fallen is aware of a message left behind by last Primes. Cybertronian ancestors constructed Solar Harvester on Earth prior to discovery of human race. Location of Solar Harvester: Giza, Egypt. Matrix of Leadership required to activate Solar __Harvester. Location of Matrix: unknown._"

"Well, is that all?" Barricade snorted, keeping off the radio. "I thought all the Harvesters were destroyed, or at least abandoned on dead planets."

"I suppose -" Demolisher began, only to be interrupted by Soundwave once again.

"_Barricade, upload all data concerning Cybertronian glyphs discovered by Blackout_," Soundwave commanded, and Demolisher could see Barricade bristling. He did not disobey, but it couldn't have been any more obvious that Soundwave had been spying on them. The worst part, as far as Demolisher was concerned, was that they couldn't exactly complain to anyone about it. "_More data required. Matrix must be found. Generating course of action_."

While Barricade seethed over giving up what he'd fought so hard to uncover, Demolisher felt a distinct uneasiness about Soundwave's snooping. How long had he been up there, looking down on them and watching their every move? Did he know about their meeting with Ratchet, or even the truth behind Sideways' presence on Earth? And, of course, there was the legitimate concern he'd heard the conversation between himself and the Constructicons, _especially_ the bit about symbiotic connections. Soundwave was the last mech he would trust with personal information like that.

Personal matters aside, Soundwave had cleared up half of the mystery concerning the glyphs in less than five sentences. Not only had the Primes been here, but this was the planet that the Matrix had been lost on? The Cube must have been attracted to its cousin power source during its flight through the vacuum – that went above and beyond a mere coincidence.

"How long's it take to generate a fraggin' course of action?" Wheelie grumbled.

"However long it takes him to sort out all the information he's gained by snooping on us," Barricade growled, though for once his anger was not aimed at the blue drone.

"_Glyphs contain coordinates to whereabouts of Matrix of Leadership_," Soundwave said, at least acting oblivious about their conversation. "_Decepticons will be deployed to discover full message. Decepticons will be assigned as follows:_

"_Scorponok is to remain in Egypt; mission: guard Solar Harvester. Wheelie is reassigned to North America; mission: collect information on Autobot allies via espionage. Barricade is assigned to Mecca; search mission: uncover possible glyphs. Demolisher is assigned to India; search mission: uncover possible glyphs._"

There was a short pause that made irrational panic well up in Demolisher's spark. He couldn't get separated from Sideways. Not now, with this damned glitching symbiotic link, ghost or not. Not with his injuries, not with-

"_Sideways will accompany Demolisher. Further details will be uploaded directly._"

The tension drained out of Demolisher, at least until he realized they would backtracking once again to reach their mission destination. He would have never left Sri Lanka if he'd known Soundwave was ten steps ahead of them about _everything_.

"Espionage, baby!" Wheelie cheered, more to himself than anyone else. "I'm gonna be a _spy_!"

"_Mecca_," Barricade snarled the word, claws flexing. "Egypt is where we should keep our focus, but because Soundwave is -"

"Don't be so resentful, Barricade," Demolisher cut him off. Whatever his opinion of Soundwave, it was probably best that Soundwave himself didn't hear it. "What Blackout found can be used to further our cause. We've got a head start, and as far as we know, the Autobots are oblivious to the existence of the Harvester. _Think_, Barricade. We will have the means to revive Megatron, reclaim one of our most powerful relics, and harvest Energon while destroying this miserable planet. In the end, isn't that what Blackout would have wanted to happen?"

"...yes," Barricade said, Demolisher's words having sobered his attitude some. Demolisher did not like to think what Barricade would have done with Blackout's findings if he hadn't told anyone.

"So, all we have to do is _find_ the Allspark shard, and a full set of glyphs that contain the location of the Matrix?" Sideways asked, thankfully redirecting them back on topic.

"Put simply, yes," Demolisher nodded. Before he suggested they all get on with their individual missions, Soundwave cut in again.

"_Repairs required?_" Soundwave asked. Even though he was annoyed by the constant interruptions, Demolisher nearly answered yes, they could use a medic, until the other 'Con continued: "_Scalpel available_."

"_No_," Demolisher said at once. From the look on Barricade's face, his decision wouldn't be disputed. "_We're fine_."

Sideways looked a bit put off by that; obviously he wasn't aware of what a nightmare it would be to have Scalpel as their medic. He was certainly capable, but Demolisher hadn't gotten over what the medic had done, or nearly done, to Scavenger. He would rather contact Ratchet again if Sideways suffered any more.

When he was certain Soundwave was done, Demolisher said: "Barricade, you can come with us. We'll probably head north and cross-"

"No," said Barricade. "I'm not going that far out of my way. I'll book a passage across the Red Sea and head straight to Mecca from there. Have fun in India."

Much to Demolisher's surprise, Barricade transformed, tires spitting up dust as they dug into the sand. Then the Mustang was off, engine roaring as they were left in his wake. Scorponok turned to watch him go, tail wilting in disappointment.

"Now there's an idea," Wheelie suddenly said. "See you losers later!"

It was almost comical watching Wheelie pull the same stunt as Barricade, his tiny engine making nowhere near as much noise as the powerful Mustang. He was off in the opposite direction, and Demolisher assumed he would find a way to North America across the Atlantic ocean. As if expecting what was coming next, he looked down at Scorponok, who was already backing away from them. One of it's claws was still injured, but it still spun, preparing to take it into the sand. It shot Sideways a somewhat apologetic look, and then it was gone, nothing but the disturbed sand to indicate it had been there at all.

"Geez," said Sideways, watching Barricade's rapidly shrinking alt mode crest a dune and then vanish. "That was fast."

"It's for the best," said Demolisher, once again scooping up the smaller 'Con. Before he had a chance to protest, Demolisher raised him up to his shoulders, where Sideways could sit comfortably. As carefully as possible, Sideways clambered onto his cab, gripping the railing as Demolisher rolled forward.

"Have you heard from the other Constructicons?" Sideways asked.

"Not yet," said Demolisher, even though he had just received a message from Scrapper, indicating he'd received the symbiote files. He said nothing else, but the acknowledgment eased Demolisher's concern about their arrival. "They made planetfall not too long ago, though, so it shouldn't be too much longer."

"This is pretty weird," Sideways said. When Demolisher didn't answer, he clarified: "I mean, the stuff about the language of the Primes and the Matrix and all that."

"Oh, yes, it is," Demolisher said, a bit dismissively. His thoughts were already turning back to what Barricade had said about the ghost symbiosis program, and what it might mean for himself and Sideways. Since it wasn't a complete host/drone system, may be it was possible for it to occur between two hardwired hosts. He would have to wait until he heard from Scrapper, knowing that speculating about it would drive him insane.

He felt Sideways shift about on his shoulder, keeping a death grip on the railing.

"You can let go," Demolisher said, casting a glance at the fidgeting Audi.

"What?" Sideways clung even tighter, as if Demolisher had told him hold on, and not the other way around.

"I said you can let go," he repeated. "You're not going to fall."

"Oh," said Sideways, and his grip loosened somewhat. After a few moments, he mustered up the courage to release the railing completely, though he pressed his back against Demolisher. It didn't take long, however, for him to realize that he _was_ safe, and actually started to relax.

"Until we're certain you can transform, I'm steering clear of the cities," said Demolisher. "You can rest if you like. It'll speed up your healing."

"Okay," the silver 'Con said, his tone telling Demolisher he was halfway into recharge already. The injury took a lot out of him, and Demolisher didn't mind carrying him so long as it meant a speedy recovery.

Without any of the other 'Cons around, the Constructicon felt an odd peace, as if all of the stress in his life had just driven away. It wouldn't take long before he started fretting over other things, or the reality of their new mission caught up to him, but for now he was going to enjoy his optimistic attitude while it lasted. Sideways was already dozing off, and Demolisher minded that his path was a smooth as possible to keep him comfortable.

If they got close enough to a major city, he'd try to find a Wi-Fi hot spot and download _The Mummy Returns_. He doubted it would be any better than the first movie, but Sideways would probably still like it.

The little things, Demolisher thought, and the wonders they did for peace of mind.


	8. Chapter 8

_Iraq_

"Get away from the window," Demolisher commanded. "And be _silent_."

Sideways did not comply immediately, still craning his neck to see through the dusty window of the warehouse they were in. Once he did back away, he transformed to his alt mode, quietly parking himself between the excavator and the wall.

They hadn't made it anywhere near India. In fact, they'd barely passed the border in to Iraq before Soundwave contacted them, apparently having a change of spark and ordering them to stay put. Demolisher hadn't minded the short reprieve, if only because it allowed Sideways to continue healing in peace. Of course, what he had failed to remember was that the American military still had an active presence in Iraq, and it was with the American military that the Autobots had gone to the berth.

He had spent so long worrying about Barricade's lies, Sideways' symbiosis and the progress of his teammates that he had almost completely forgotten the Autobots were a threat. Demolisher wasn't forgetting it again any time soon, especially after running into a reconnaissance drone that was neither human nor Decepticon. It's smoking remains were about a quarter mile from their current hide out, as they hadn't had much time to run any further.

The Autobot's response time was getting faster, and Soundwave had confirmed that they and their organic friends were actively hunting Decepticons. That seemed rather backwards to Demolisher, considering the Autobots traditionally took a defensive position. Perhaps it was the humans that were pushing for the elimination of Decepticons on their little planet, and the Prime felt obligated to honor their wishes. Whatever the reason, it didn't change the fact that he and Sideways were pinned down, waiting for either a break or an attack. His only consolation now was that Soundwave had at least informed him several Constructicons had been on route to meet them.

The dusty street outside was empty and quiet, the humans having long since abandoned this area. Nothing moved, but Demolisher could hear the rumble of a powerful engine approaching. It was clearly taking its time, setting his nerves on edge as it grew ever closer without exposing itself. With Sideways tucked in behind him, the humans would probably walk right past them. If anyone looked in the windows, all they would see was a bunch of broken down, dirty construction vehicles. Demolisher could only hope that they wouldn't notice he was the only vehicle whose spare parts hadn't been gutted by opportunists.

A black pick up truck finally pulled into sight, headlights cutting through the dust as it trolled the street. It was followed by two humvees, though they gave the first vehicle a lot of breathing room. If there was only one Autobot, then the odds were in their favor. Demolisher could shrug off the human attackers with ease, and dispatch or escape from one Autobot with little trouble. He didn't get his hopes up, knowing more Autobots could be lurking just around the corner, waiting for them to step out of the shadows.

The Autobot abruptly hit the brakes, and Demolisher tensed, certain they had been spotted. Nothing happened for several long seconds, until he heard the voice of a human shouting from not too far away.

"I said _let's go_!" the human yelled, jogging up between the two humvees. He stopped just in front of them, as if the distance between himself and the Autobot was fraught with danger.

"There are still Decepticons here, Lennox," the Autobot growled, not budging from where he had stopped. His distinctive voice gave away his identity; Demolisher did not fear Ironhide, but he would rather avoid a fight with the Autobot weapons specialist, knowing he would endure far more damage than was desirable.

"Yeah, and there's _four_ confirmed Decepticons shooting up our guys five miles north of here," the human, Lennox, snapped. "I don't care what Sideswipe says he can do, but they're getting their asses handed to them up there. We're not dealing with scouts or drones, Ironhide - these guys sound like heavy hitters."

Ironhide responded by opening his driver's side door, and Lennox made a quick signal to the humvees. Both vehicles pulled around and drove off, while Lennox trotted over to the pick up truck.

"We'll be back once we've taken care of the Decepticon north of here," the human said, his tone suddenly placating, like he was trying to console the Autobot. "I've already got the twins laying out a perimeter -"

Anything else the human said was cut off when he shut the driver's side door, effectively sealing off all sound. Demolisher's sensors could not penetrate the armor of another Cybertronian, let alone an Autobot like Ironhide. With much more show than the humvees, the black pick up spun around, throwing up dirt and gunning its engine, roaring as it accelerated.

"Autobots are taking orders from humans?" Sideways asked incredulously, barely waiting until the enemy was out of sight before speaking.

"Quiet," Demolisher wasn't taking any chances; if Ironhide suspected that there were Decepticons lurking around, he was certain to be back as soon as possible. He didn't care if the human had moved them elsewhere, since for all he knew it was a trick to draw them out. Sideways said nothing else, thought Demolisher could feel hints of impatience across their link.

An hour passed before Demolisher even allowed them to consider moving. Sideways stuck close to him as he made his way to the entrance of the warehouse, before slipping in front of him to scan the streets. Giving the all clear, Sideways drove out first, followed by the excavator.

"The others are close," Demolisher said lowly, checking his radar. Four Constructicons had been inbound for their position, and had no doubt been the ones to hit a snag with the Autobots. "With any luck they'll be here soon, but we'll have to send them coordinates to a new location. Scavenger will be able to find us, so -"

"You talk about Scavenger a lot," Sideways said suddenly. His tone caught Demolisher off guard, sounding annoyed with a heavily suppressed hint of jealously.

"That's because he's my twin," said Demolisher, trying to figure out what had prompted that question. Did he really bring up his brother unit that often? His thoughts were interrupted when he had to put on the brakes a second later as Sideways swerved in front of him. "You can't talk and drive, can you?"

"You have a _twin_?"

"Yes," he replied. It was not the first time someone was shocked by that; after all, he had a unique body frame, and it was hard to imagine his model being used twice. Still, he and Scavenger were identical down to the lugnut, though Scrapper had long ago told them to, at the very least, have differing paint schemes.

A faint _beep_ made Demolisher stop in his tracks, and Sideways reversed quickly as his shovel swung around to keep him back. Something small and metal popped up from beneath the sand, beeped again, and then scurried forward on six spindly legs. The second _beep_ was answered by another small mechanism, and then another, all of them sifting out of the sand and crawling out of nearby buildings, dozens of them -

Only now did he realize what the human had said,about_ the twins laying out a perimeter_. Of course the twins had to be Autobots, and whoever they were, it seemed they took a liking to deadly traps. Demolisher cursed himself for a such a stupid, avoidable mistake.

"Proximity mines," Demolisher said, transforming and shaking one of them off of his hand. It took only a moment for the mine to right itself, rejoining the rest of the hoard as they honed in on Demolisher. The damned Autobots had probably left hundreds of them, making impossible for any land based Cybertronian to get past them. "Sideways, run and hide yourself – don't come out until the others arrive."

"But-" Sideways started, even as he reversed further. Demolisher was already charging his cannon, ignoring the mines that were crawling up his wheel. They moved quickly, some of them leaping up onto his face or his arms. He swatted at those with his free hand, intending to keep them as far away from vital connections as he could.

"You can outrun them, _I_ can't, so _go_!" Demolisher bellowed. Without any more persuading, Sideways turned and sped off. His departure didn't even register to the mines: they were programmed to select one target and detonate once it was suitably bogged down. A chain reaction was what made them so devastating, but Demolisher knew that it was also their weakness. Setting them off prematurely would cause the ones on the ground to detonate harmlessly, and he would have only to weather what was already on him.

One shot was all it took – the mines set each other off in quick succession, and Demolisher imagined the explosion of shrapnel and sand would be seen for miles. Even with his shields at full power, every mine that went off on his frame stung, warping and distorting his optical feed. Still, all things considered, it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

He thought as much until he felt a single stray mine furrow into his side, somehow wiggling under the armor and nestling into his wiring. Before he could consider prying it out, the mine went off and Demolisher howled. Several dozen emergency warnings flashed across his systems in panic, before cutting into oblivion as his systems crashed into stasis lock.

* * *

_It was raining. The landscape lit up with a flash of lightning, deafening thunder rolling across the unfamiliar terrain. Water flooded off the rocks surrounding him, coming down so quickly it was already up to his knees. He was going to have to find higher ground before the flood swallowed him whole._

_Demolisher started walking, and suddenly everything felt incredibly _wrong_. He didn't have knees to gauge how deep the water was, and he certainly didn't have legs that moved without him telling them to. Wherever he was, he knew he'd never been there before. He watched small hands reach out and pull him up onto a ledge, the same hands that had tried and failed to perform simple field repairs -_

Oh no_, thought Demolisher_. Not again.

_Only this was far, far worse than vague dreams. Seeing Sideways' memories was preferable to _living_ Sideways' memories, especially when the uncomfortable emotions of fear and panic began eating at his subconscious. He had the distinct feeling that Sideways was lost, disoriented from the storm and terrified of something Demolisher didn't know about._

_He – Sideways finally found a small reprieve from the rain under a rocky outcropping, hunkering down and peering out across the terrain. Whatever the geological structure of the planet, it did not absorb water in the least. Though Sideways had gotten himself out of the water, it continued to rise unhindered._

_Despite the thunder and pounding rain, his – _Sideways' _audio receptors picked up voices nearby. An inkling of hope flickered in his mind, followed quickly by suspicion and apprehension. Cautiously, the silver 'Con maneuvered himself around the rocks, staying low and hopefully out of sight. He stopped when he spotted three other mechs, frame going rigid as irrational fear welled up inside of him. _

_Sideways backpedaled quickly, but not before he saw one of the mechs point at him and start shouting. Demolisher instantly recognized them as Decepticons, as one of them was none other than his own teammate, Rampage. His fellow Constructicon seemed to see the pointing as a command, and Demolisher suddenly understood why Sideways hadn't wanted to stick around. Rampage came at them – no, came at Sideways with only a few short leaps, and the silver 'Con tumbled off the ledge and into the water with one well aimed swat._

_He was in the water for only a moment before Rampage grabbed his legs and hauled him out, throwing him over his head. Sideways hit the ground hard, rolling over and finding himself at the feet of the other two mechs. Demolisher did not know who one of them was, but the other he wouldn't mind killing on sight if given the chance. Sideways' overwhelming fear barely suppressed the anger Demolisher felt upon learning that Rampage was dealing with the likes of _Swindle_._

_The nameless mech grabbed Sideways' arm roughly, dragging him up into a sitting position. Si__deways did not resist, but was sputtering something about needing to leave, apologizing for bothering them, the Autobots had been after him and -_

_Sideways was silenced when the mech struck him hard enough to send him back to the ground. Behind him, Rampage loomed into view, towering over the shorter 'Cons with him. In his entire life, Demolisher had never been afraid of or felt threatened by Rampage, no matter how ruthless or disturbed his actions. Now, looking up at him through the rain and lightning, knowing it would be near impossible to defend himself, Demolisher knew Sideways' fears were not unfounded. He had never felt so weak and powerless in his entire life; the terror paralyzed him now just as it had paralyzed Sideways when this had happened to him. _

"_Mute it, you strutless coward," the unnamed mech said, his black color scheme rendering him near invisible in the storm. "You're just in time to help us complete a very delicate business transaction."_

_Any business transaction that involved Swindle was probably illegal, involved a weapon, and typically got out of hand. Perhaps that was why Rampage was present; but if Scrapper knew he was off cavorting with the likes of Swindle -_

"_He got a name?" Swindle asked, shaking water out of an object Demolisher could not identify. "Sidewinder or something?"_

"_Sideways," the black mech corrected. "Fancies he can outrun anything. Isn't that right, Sideways?"_

_Whatever Sideways' response was, it was cut short when Rampage struck the ground next to him with his treads, tearing up chunks of thick rock._

"_How fast do you think he can run if I break his legs?" Rampage laughed, and Sideways tried vainly to drag himself away from the others. He didn't make it far before Rampage dragged him back, claws hooking under his armor painfully._

"_Where are you going? We've got something special for you," the black mech tsked, holding out his hand and taking the tool when Swindle gave it to him. He waved it in front of Sideways' face, who recoiled, not knowing what to expect. Demolisher could not figure out what it was; besides looking medical in design, it could have been passed off as a weapon, with a thick cartridge and sharp muzzle. "Swindle knows every good business pitch includes a demo, and you've just volunteered yourself. This beauty's pretty illegal, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone that we've got it. Actually, it'll be_ yours _in a moment, so that's even more reason to keep it on mute -"_

"_Quit yapping and do it already, Dead End" Swindle said, handing the black mech a canister. "I haven't got all day. First shot's a freebee – the rest you pay for up front."_

_Dead End did not respond, only fixing Sideways with a piercing stare as he loaded the canister into the weapon. One last time, Sideways attempted to crawl away, but Rampage held him down with one hand. Swindle looked like he might try to help in restraining the silver 'Con, but held back, not wanting to get too close to the Constructicon._

_Demolisher felt Dead End pawing around the armor of Sideways' chest, which made the silver 'Con squirm. Rampage only increased the pressure; Sideways wasn't going anywhere. He didn't hear Sideways' armor give way over all the rain, but he started kicking as soon as his chest plate was opened. His desperate attempt at self defense ended when Dead End kneeled on his legs, leaving him completely unable to move any of his limbs._

"_You're going to die just like you've lived, Sideways," Dead End said lowly, his fatal promise sending tremors of fear through the frame of the silver 'Con. "Alone and afraid."_

_The barrel of the weapon vanished under his armor, and Sideways renewed his struggles. He knew it was a memory, and the outcome couldn't be changed, but Demolisher still wanted to tell Sideways to keep fighting, to escape. Above them, Rampage watched, a perverted, evil glow in his optics that Demolisher had seen time and time again, only now learning to fear it._

"_Don't be so gentle," he heard Rampage laugh. "His spark! Inject it right into the port under his spark!"_

_He felt the muzzle of the weapon move, panic welling up inside of himself and Sideways all over again. Thrashing was out of the question, begging did him no good, there was nothing he could do, nothing to stop what was happening -_

"_This is going to _hurt_," Dead End said, mouth twisting into a smile of jagged dentals. Not a moment later and it _did_ hurt, and the scream that came from Sideway's vocalizer would have been enough to curdle even Demolisher's vital fluids. He could hardly tell when the weapon was withdrawn, and the other mechs released him. It wasn't until he was pushed aside and fell into the water that everything went black, swallowed by pain and terror and a wash of unfamiliar memories._

_

* * *

_

_A/N: This chapter started getting unwieldy, so I broke it into two parts. I'll have the next chapter up shortly._

_Here, Swindle is channeling his G1 self rather than his movie self, and Dead End is definitely NOT channeling his G1 self._


	9. Chapter 9

"...ought to be it."

"Really?"

"Really. From here, his self repair systems will take care of the rest, and he should be coming out of stasis lock shortly. You did well, little one."

"...okay."

"Now then, why don't you climb up here? There's no sense hovering over him."

"I – I think I'll just stay right here."

"...very well."

Heavy footsteps faded into the background, static slowly clearing from his audio receptors. A simple self diagnostic outlined everything that was wrong with him, but that repairs had already been made. That didn't stop everything from hurting, though. Slowly powering up his optics, the first thing Demolisher saw was Sideways, who was hunched up against his shoulder armor. He was looking the other way, oblivious to Demolisher's return to consciousness, idly scratching dried Energon off of his arms. Anything else was blocked by his wheels, as he was currently laying on his back.

"I bet that was some explosion," Demolisher said, causing Sideways to whip around so quickly he almost toppled off of his shoulder. The silver 'Con only looked at him for a moment, before turning and scrambling up to the top of his cab.

"Hightower!" Sideways yelled. "He's online!"

Hightower's response was lost when Demolisher experienced a surge of feedback, echoing across his audios painfully. His diagnostics queue got longer, but at least everything was coming back to him with a repair status.

Sideways carefully slid back down, looking him over as he did so.

"You had a mine go off under your armor," Sideways said, before Demolisher could attempt to ask. His fingers traced the seam of his armor, indicating where he had been damaged the most. "They cut off your primary motor functions and severed three of your vital fuel lines, which sent you into immediate stasis lock. And, um, most of the compound went up when you set off the mines. Everything is pretty much still on fire, but the Autobots are gone. "

"We saw the explosion from five miles away," Hightower was leaning over him now, giving him an appraising look. "You couldn't have made it any easier for everyone – Autobots included – to find you."

"Well, I'm fine aren't I?" Demolisher said, despite how much every part of him ached. "It could've been worse."

"It _was_ worse, Demolisher," Hightower shot back. "You would have died if your little friend here hadn't come back for you."

Demolisher fell silent at that, looking over at Sideways. The silver 'Con did not return the look, merely staring down at his own dirty hands, shifting uncomfortably. Demolisher had something of a revelation, figuring out that it was _his_ vital fluids all over Sideways' arms.

"You heard him, did you not?" Hightower continued. "_Three_ vital fuel lines. Someone your size would bleed dry in under ten minutes, and yet this one was swift enough to seal the ruptures and stabilize you. Impressive for a _courier_."

Sideways continued to avoid looking directly at Demolisher, wincing slightly at Hightower's emphasis on his function. Despite himself, Demolisher felt a hint of pride, knowing Sideways had actually read the data files he'd been given in Egypt. It was obvious, however, that the Constructicon medic was suspicious of Sideways, and had no doubt grilled him harshly over his actions and his intentions. Hightower's overbearing and condescending personality had more than likely driven Sideways to hide where he hid best: with Demolisher.

"Let's get you up, now," said Hightower, suddenly back to business. The medic backed off, folding down to his alt mode. The crane's tower swung around, and Hightower slowly dropped the hook, stopping it once it was a few feet above Demolisher. Grabbing it with one hand and using the other to steady Sideways, Demolisher heaved himself up as Hightower pulled back.

Taking only a moment to situate his wheel, Demolisher stretched out, letting his systems recalibrate. Hightower transformed back to his root mode, circling around his teammate to check for any more unseen damage or complications. Waiting for Hightower to complete his inspection, Demolisher looked out across the compound, seeing nothing but fire, smoke and dust.

"The mines went all around the perimeter," Sideways said, and Demolisher looked down, having forgotten the small 'Con was still sitting in one hand. "I don't think they were _all_ supposed to go off, but..."

"You're clear," Hightower announced. "All that's left is to wait for your self repairs to be complete. I also patched up the damage to your little friend, who can't seem to explain to me just _why_ Scorponok saw fit to run him through."

"It's complicated," Demolisher said, getting a sharp glare from his teammate. "It also involves Barricade."

"Then I suppose we'll never know," Hightower sniffed, though he eyed Sideways with nothing less than derision. Sideways seemed to return the sentiment, probably resentful of constantly being referred to as Demolisher's 'little friend'. "In the meantime -"

"Hey, Demo!"

Hightower whirled around, ire moving from one giant to another. "Oh, now don't you go and rile him up! He still needs to heal!"

Demolisher barely had time to set Sideways down on the ground before Scavenger was right in front of him, hastily shoving Hightower to the side. It was like looking directly into a mirror; below, Sideways was staring up at them with an open mouth, acting as though he hadn't believed Demolisher when he said he had a twin.

"You know Scrapper's not going to be happy," Demolisher said, skipping the greetings. "We're supposed to have different paint jobs."

"Oh! But it is different, you see?" Scavenger backed up a few feet, looking down at himself. "I mean, we're both red and white, but -"

" - you inverted the colors," Demolisher could only laugh. "No, Scrapper won't buy it."

"Well, I like it," Scavenger said defensively. "Besides, he can't complain if he doesn't see us together anyhow."

"We're leaving in three hours," Hightower said loudly, reminding everyone he was still there. "Just be ready to go by then."

With that, the medic turned on his heel and stormed off, more than likely irate for more reasons than they could count. Sideways shuffled uneasily in the dirt, which caught Scavenger's attention.

"Oh, you're Sideways!" Scavenger leaned down, but the movement was too quick, and Sideways retreated, more than a little intimidated. Demolisher could see that his twin looked a bit put out by that, as well as confused. "I, um, hear you've been through a lot with Demolisher here."

"Yeah," Sideways managed to say, watching Scavenger closely. While Demolisher was much more reserved and closed off, Scavenger was open with his emotions, letting them play out across his facial plates. If he had to guess, Demolisher assumed that was what would put Sideways off the most – seeing something that looked him, but did not act like him.

"Well at least no one was offlined, right?" Scavenger seemed at a loss for what to say to Sideways. "I mean, the mines did some damage, but -"

"It really hurt," Sideways said suddenly, looking up at Demolisher directly for the first time since he'd come out of stasis lock. Scavenger shot Demolisher a questioning look, but he was too busy staring down at Sideways, the pure desperation and fear in his optics rattling him. Sideways had not been damaged in the explosion, so what had hurt?

"Of course it did," Demolisher said slowly. Sideways did not back down, and the Constructicon felt like he was being challenged, or at least questioned, but he didn't know why. He had the dreadful, sinking suspicion that his pain had been so great it had gone out across the symbiotic link, and Sideways was now aware of it.

Scavenger started to comment, but at that moment Long Haul sauntered into view, followed by Rampage. Something in Demolisher's spark twisted at the sight of Rampage, and he felt terror, pain and incomprehensible rage all at once. The memory of Sideways' torture at his hands surged across his systems, and Demolisher was moving before he knew what he was doing.

Rampage only had the time to look up before Demolisher's top wheel came crashing down on his head, metal crunching loudly as he hit the ground. Everyone started yelling at once; Long Haul stepped forward, only to be held back by Scavenger, and Hightower made it far enough to see what was happening before freezing up.

Rampage's hands scrabbled at Demolisher's wheel, struggling to free himself. After a moment, the wheel lifted back up over his head, but Demolisher immediately grabbed him by the neck, hauling him forward before slamming him to the ground again. He heard Long Haul shouting at him to cut it out, and Scavenger pleading for the same, but he ignored them all. Grabbing Rampage's head, he jerked it up, feeling a surge of satisfaction as he heard the other Constructicon howl in pain.

"_Look_ at him," Demolisher commanded, twisting Rampage's head until he was looking directly at Sideways. The silver 'Con went rigid when they turned on him, hyper aware of the fact that every Constructicon was now staring right at him. His optics darted between Rampage and Demolisher, full of horror and wonder at what was happening. "_Look _at him and _understand what you did to him!_"

"Get _off_!" Rampage hollered, one tread slapping uselessly against Demolisher's arm. "I didn't do _anything_ to your slagging pet! I've never even seen him -"

"I said _look at him!_" Demolisher did not relent, sharp shovel fingers digging into Rampage's exposed cables. He writhed at the pain, attempting to buck him off, but Demolisher held fast. "If you don't remember him, then may be _Swindle_ will."

Rampage's struggles stilled, and Demolisher could see Long Haul exchanging confused looks with Scavenger and Hightower. Sideways quailed under Rampage's gaze, but after a moment recognition clicked in.

"Oh yes, _you're_ the little thing that Dead End gave the parasite to," Rampage said, his tone so upbeat it was as if his neck wasn't getting slowly crushed by Demolisher. "I imagine that _hurt_."

Rampage began to laugh, which ended in a howl of pain as Demolisher's other hand reached down and twisted his spinal structure, just above his jackhammer legs. He twisted again until Rampage spat up Energon, hissing and gurgling in pain.

"What do you want me to do?" Rampage demanded, claws clenching around fistfuls of dirt. "Tell him I'm sorry? Say I'll be his frie-"

Another twist, and this time Rampage choked on the back wash of his own vital fluids. Demolisher waited until he was finished spitting it up to speak.

"I only want you to understand what you did to him," Demolisher said, tone low and threatening. It was not easy to intimidate a mech like Rampage, and Demolisher knew this would not change his behavior, but it certainly made him feel better about a lot of things. "Understand what you did to _me_, and the _hell_ you've caused."

"No one told you to spare his useless existence," Rampage snarled, renewing his struggles to get free of the excavator. Demolisher only tightened his grip, grinding just enough to get Rampage to sputter.

"Give me a reason to spare yours," Demolisher rumbled, and Rampage's optics darted up to look at him, seemingly convinced that he was being entirely sincere. But Demolisher had no intention of killing his teammate, only hoping to make him aware of the fact that fear _did_ exist, and not just in other units. Tightening his grip on the back of Rampage's neck, he hauled him up and flung him away without a care as to where he landed.

The red mech crashed to the ground in a heap, Energon oozing from his wounds. A moment passed where no one moved, and then Long Haul was at Rampage's side, while Scavenger joined Demolisher. His twin had picked Sideways off the ground, holding him between both hands.

"Scrapper's gonna be mad," said Scavenger, watching Long Haul heave Rampage up so Hightower could look him over. The medic spared the twins a brief, stunned look, before turning his attention to the newest patient. Demolisher hadn't done any lasting damage, and he was certain his threats would be forgotten by Rampage before the morning came.

"Let him," said Demolisher. "It will be nothing when he finds out Rampage has been dealing with Swindle."

"How'd you find out about _that_?" Scavenger asked, looking down briefly as Sideways squirmed in his hands. Demolisher resisted the urge to snatch the Audi away, knowing it would be easier for the three of them to speak if they were all on the same level.

"Doesn't matter," he said, looking up at the smoke rising into the air.

"Yes it does," Sideways said, startling both of the excavators. His optics were fixed on Demolisher. "Everyone knew except me?"

Demolisher said nothing for a moment, feeling sore now that his systems were coming down from their high. "I only ever told Scrapper. The trouble with being a Constructicon is that if one of us knows about it, then the rest do. We don't have a lot of secrets."

"Amongst yourselves," Sideways said darkly, scowling. "You said you severed the link."

"And I _did_," Demolisher said. "Sideways, I never told you because I thought I could fix it before you ever found out. It didn't seem to be affecting you, so -"

"Well it did when you blew up!" Sideways suddenly shouted, and Scavenger looked down at the small 'Con in his hands in surprise. "I thought _I'd_ gotten hit it hurt so bad! It felt like I was on fire until I figured it out, and then I thought if _you_ died, _I_ was going to die because of it and -"

"Slow down," said Demolisher, keeping his tone as even as possible. "A symbiosis never killed anyone."

"Well excuse me for panicking," Sideways snapped. "I know – I know what you saw, because it was all I could think of. That parasite – I thought _I_ was the parasite – the drone. I got confused – I just – I didn't -"

"You still managed to save Demolisher's life," Scavenger cut in, before the Audi dissolved into hysterics. He sent his twin a questioning look, not knowing the full story behind the parasite.

"Rampage will receive further reprimand from Scrapper for what he did," said Demolisher, moving closer to prevent the others from hearing. Sideways slunk back somewhat, before he realized he was completely surrounded by the twin excavators. "I will gladly kill Swindle on sight, and Dead End I will tear to pieces just to hear him scream."

Sideways finally began to calm down, and his anger seemed to drain out of him, leaving him half limp in Scavenger's hands. When he looked back up, he could see Demolisher's and Scavenger's top wheels were leaning against one another.

"Did you mean it?" he asked quietly. "About it being hell?"

"No," Demolisher shook his head. "But Rampage doesn't need to know that. It will take some getting used to, Sideways, but I do intend to find a way to fix this."

Sideways now looked beyond miserable, staring at his hands again and refusing to look anywhere near Demolisher. "I'm not a _drone_."

"I know that," Demolisher said, for once feeling nothing but infinite patience with the silver 'Con. Scavenger thankfully remained silent, simply holding his hands steady as Sideways lamented his situation. "I didn't do this on purpose, Sideways."

"I'm not your _pet_," Sideways moaned, shaking his head before gripping it between both hands. "I don't _want_ this, I don't-"

"Sideways," Demolisher interrupted him. It was obvious Barricade's words in Sri Lanka bothered him as much as it had Demolisher, as Rampage had so eloquently reminded them. "Remember that you are not the only one affected by this. But, like it or not, you belong to me for the foreseeable future."

"It's not so bad, is it?" Scavenger cut in, seeing Sideways wilt at Demolisher's declaration. "So long as you have Demolisher, you'll have me as well."

"I can't protect you from the war, Sideways," Demolisher continued for his twin. "But I can promise no Decepticon will harm you again. Perhaps for a steep price, but it's already been paid, hasn't it? Until this is sorted out, we have a purpose and a duty to fulfill. We must find the shard, we must find the Matrix, and we must revive Megatron.

"All things considered, our problems are very small. We are Decepticons, Sideways, and our mission cannot be ignored. If the Fallen is to return, then we must be prepared, symbiotic connection or not. Do you understand?"

Sideways nodded, once again seeming to come out of his shell. Scavenger shot him an amused look, more than likely refraining from commenting on his little speech. Satisfied with Sideways' consent, Demolisher backed away from his twin, who then set the Audi back down on the ground. Demolisher turned in time to see Hightower headed their way.

"Your little _stunt_ aside, Scrapper's just relayed us our new orders," Hightower said sternly, trying to assert his command over them. While he was second to Scrapper, none of the Constructicons really saw him as an authority figure, just as their mildly insufferable medic. "Demolisher and Sideways are to inspect the pyramids in Xi'an, China. The rest of us are headed back up into Europe. Soundwave imagines he has an idea as to where Megatron's corpse is located, and wants us to be prepared for departure once it's been confirmed."

"Six years apart," Scavenger sighed as Hightower left them alone once again. "And two hours together. I think we've got something backwards."

"It'll be alright, Scavenger," Demolisher said. "Aside from the Autobot pests, things are starting to go our way."

"You better be right," Scavenger said, minding Sideways as he rolled forward so he could join the others. Rampage was shooting them dirty looks, but Long Haul was keeping him at bay, feigning interest in his wounds.

Demolisher wanted nothing more than to be right; it was just thousands of years worth of experience that told him not to get his hopes up.

* * *

_A/N: Wanna know what I just noticed? That I've been spelling Demolisher's name wrong this entire time; apparently it's DemolishOR. I'm totally fired from the internet. Leave it to me to figure that out right before the story ends._

Poicephalus: _You're certainly right about Sideways' luck, especially since it hasn't gotten any better. Thanks for reviewing, I'm glad you're enjoying the story!_

Ripper22: _I agree that Soundwave is awesome, and I also agree that he's creepy. The next chapter will be the last one. Thanks for all your reviews!_

Ouchimoo: _When it comes to Decepticons, the phrase 'No, we CAN'T just all get along' comes to mind ;)_


	10. Chapter 10

_I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,  
__Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town  
[...] I wear it for the thousands who have died,  
Believin' that the Lord was on their side,  
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,  
Believin' that we all were on their side _--Johnny Cash, the Man in Black

* * *

_Shanghai, China_

Demolisher did not typically bother himself with keeping track of time. Years passed him by unnoticed and decades were like a single drop of Energon into the core of Cybertron. He did not lament his age, or even worry about it, so long as he still functioned. He had endured millennia of peace _and_ war, visited countless worlds and watched nameless stars cool and die. The span of his entire life did not amaze him; he simply existed, and with purpose, he lived.

And yet, despite all this, Demolisher could not stop thinking about how _long_ the past two years on this miserable planet had felt. Germany seemed so very far away, no closer than Cybertron in his mind. The dynamics of the war had changed, both sides demoralized by the loss of the Allspark, but even more fanatical about the eradication of their enemy. The Decepticons were near rabid in their quest for revenge, now plotting the demise of the entire Earth along with the wretched Autobots.

They had learned over the past few months that the Autobots had become just as vicious, no longer taking prisoners of war. What Decepticon they engaged, drone or otherwise, they killed without pausing to question or solicit. It really all came down to a matter of logistics; where on Earth could they hope to hold Decepticon prisoners that wouldn't be a danger to humans? The Autobots lacked the presence to contain them, and their forces were stretched too thin across the galaxy to hold them off planet.

It hadn't taken long for Soundwave to confirm that the Autobots and their human allies were actively hunting Decepticons, no doubt engineering a special strike force to deal with them. For all their effort, though, they really had no idea how many Decepticons were crawling around their new home, with more lurking out in space. Besides the Constructicons, Soundwave had called many to Earth, all them deployed to search out either the Matrix or Megatron's corpse. The skirmishes began when the Autobot scouts found out the Decepticon scouts, and the humans caught in the middle soon realized that the war was far from over.

For their part, Demolisher and Sideways had turned up nothing in Xi'an, another dead end added to the list. Demolisher had spoken to Barricade only once since they parted ways, and he had seemed convinced that the Matrix was near the Harvester itself. He gave no explanation for his determination, and had, for all intents and purposes, dropped off the face of the Earth after that transmission. Not even Soundwave seemed to know where he'd gotten off to, but Demolisher knew better than to fully trust him.

Whatever Barricade was up to, Demolisher could only hope it wasn't too stupid or suicidal, neither of which were common characteristics of the Mustang. Scorponok remained in Egypt, and Demolisher could only guess that it and Barricade had continued to communicate in secret. He couldn't worry about that now; after all, he and Sideways were en route to North America for their next mission. They had only to find a ship to take them across the Pacific, something that Sideways did not look forward to in the least. They waited near the docks in Shanghai, debating between themselves whether or not the Autobots were sharing technology, or if the humans were as sharp as they made themselves out to be.

It was in the middle of a radio conversation with Scavenger that they discovered part of the extent of human ingenuity. Both of them had stopped talking at the same time, hearing not only an echo, but faint, whispered voices in English. Before they could comment on the oddity, Scrapper cut off their transmission and rerouted the signal to Soundwave, who tracked the echo within moments. Demolisher received a short data burst from Scrapper, with new orders to maintain strict radio silence, as the humans had found a way to piggyback on their frequencies.

How they'd figured that out didn't really matter, just that it put several of them in immediate danger. The hack wasn't intended to listen in on the broadcasts, but rather to trace the source of the signals. The last bit of Scrapper's data burst informed him that they had managed to uncover Demolisher's position, but not Scavenger's, meaning he and Sideways were going to have to move. Demolisher took them closer to the industrial sector of Shanghai, thinking they would have a better chance of hiding amongst the machines there.

The speed in which Shanghai was shut down startled Demolisher, and frightened Sideways to no end. Much like in Iraq, they were pinned down and trapped inside a perimeter that was established with sudden and deadly efficiency. Demolisher kept Sideways occupied by having him access the local news feeds, finding that a toxic waste spill had been staged in order to evacuate civilians. The area they were hiding in slowly emptied out of nearly all human life, leaving nothing but potential disguised Decepticons.

After the evacuation, the factory they had chosen to hide by was silent save for the humming of running machinery. Demolisher parked himself next to a stack of massive tubes, though he did not know what their function was. He had ordered Sideways to remain separate from him, and the Audi had vanished from sight on the road below him, tucking into some bushes. The silence they'd been waiting in was shattered by the arrival of military helicopters, swooping in and searching the area with their flood lights.

Demolisher watched several of them dip below the buildings, which meant they were dropping off troops. They had gotten lucky in Iraq, he knew, and that luck wasn't going to hold out here. There was very little chance that they would be overlooked, so running and fighting were boiling down to their only options.

"They're going to spot me first," Demolisher said, even as headlights flashed through the rapidly darkening district. More humans with bigger weapons – and their safety zone was getting smaller by the second. "You need to stay put and stay there until they're gone."

"What – you're going to be a _decoy_?" Sideways yelped, flashing his own headlights once. "You can't be serious!"

"Turn those off," Demolisher admonished him quickly. The entire idea was to keep Sideways safe until he could draw off the enemy, which wasn't going to work if the Audi gave himself away. "And yes, I'm serious. I'm not getting out of this by playing inanimate machine."

"Where are you going to _go_?" Sideways asked, shrinking back into the bushes as another helicopter flew closer than the last.

"The coast," Demolisher said. "So long as my path goes through a populated civilian area, I can probably make it to the docks."

"_Probably_?"

Demolisher reigned in his impatience, already seeing that Sideways was close to panicking. He didn't dare open the symbiotic link to calm him, knowing Sideways would catch on, kick him out, and panic even more. Scrapper had been unable to give them an answer to their supposed ghost symbiosis, mostly because he was stretched too thin acting as a commanding officer in a war. Demolisher did not resent him for it; the two of them had at least found a way to keep it dormant unless they wanted to access it.

"The more damage I cause, the greater the chance of them hanging back to aid their wounded," Demolisher said. It wasn't a foolproof idea – after all, no matter who drew them up or how long they were cultivated, the best laid plans were always susceptible to failure. "If you _are_ spotted, then you run, and keep on running until its safe. No one outruns you, right?"

"Yeah. Right," Sideways muttered, clearly unconvinced. Any other conversation was cut short when the black helicopters flew in again, these ones lingering long enough to make them brace for an attack.

It wasn't long before the area was crawling with military vehicles and humans. The choppers continued to circle, but the ground forces fanned out, completely surrounding them. Flood lights passed him over, but the humans that were on foot crept closer, seemingly headed straight for him. He could hear the breathing of each one of them, noting their accelerated heart rates and the adrenaline coursing through their weak bodies. The sound of a transforming Cybertronian echoed across the compound, and Demolisher immediately checked Sideways' position. Seeing no change, that meant there was at least one Autobot to contend with, and countless humans backing it up.

His audios picked up low whispers from not far away, most of it lost when a helicopter passed over head, but he still understood two words: _thermal ripple_. That did it – if the humans were tracking him simply by looking for a heat signature, then he would stand out like a veritable furnace in the Arctic tundra. His charade as inanimate excavator ended there, and the nearest humans froze as he transformed, many knocked off their feet as he slammed his fists into the ground.

Confusing and frightening the humans was his first goal, which he did by throwing the heavy industrial tubes up in the air, scattering and injuring a good number of the soldiers. Those that were out of range immediately opened fire, which he returned with a few wild shots from his own cannon. Bullets did very little to him, but he could see the helicopters and ground vehicles moving in with weapons that would do some damage. Before they got the chance to fire, Demolisher let loose a concentrated shock wave, sending humans and anything that wasn't nailed down flying through the air.

Demolisher turned himself around, intending to head for the highways when the helicopters fired at him. Feeling his shields falter, Demolisher lashed out at the nearest chopper, sending it crashing to the ground in flames. The other backed off before he could get at it, but at that point several plasma rounds hit his shoulder, and he saw Ironhide charging at him. The Autobot had hung back only because there had been too many humans between them, but now that buffer had run thin.

As Demolisher rolled off, he could hear Ironhide, bellowing at him, calling him a coward and cursing him. Demolisher didn't care; his goal was to escape, not engage in some all out brawl with a trigger happy Autobot. The choppers kept their distance now, but the ground based humans took off after him, realizing he was heading for the highway.

Soundwave had never given them explicit orders about staying out of the public eye, since laying low was key to hiding from the Autobots. Now, however, he could endanger the Autobots' presence on this planet as well as get himself to relative safety. The fact that he would able to destroy a great deal of this city might have been a motivating factor as well. After all, he had been denied the chance to demonstrate to Wheelie just why he was called Demolisher.

* * *

Despite being something of a lackluster soldier, Sideways could at least say he was good at following orders. If Demolisher told him to shut up and sit tight, then he was going to do just that. The humans walked right past him, clearly looking for something bigger and not thinking that a target would hide in the bushes. When things started blowing up, Sideways held his ground, trusting that Demolisher knew what he was doing by throwing things around and _then_ blowing them up.

His intentions of staying put were dashed when the helicopter Demolisher knocked out of the sky crashed right next to him. As the flaming bits and pieces rolled across the ground, Sideways became aware that every human that had watched the chopper go down was suddenly staring right at him. He could practically see the gears in their heads turning as they worked out the reason behind a fancy sports car idling in the bushes in the middle of Shanghai. For a brief moment both parties were too stunned to do anything, before Sideways' engine roared to life and the humans gathered their wits.

"There's another Decepticon!" one of the humans called out, but Sideways was already running, swinging himself around and speeding off. _So much for waiting them out_. He caught a brief glimpse of Demolisher's retreating form before he disappeared around the factory, the black pick up truck from Iraq hot on his wheel.

The silver Audi ducked into the nearest storage warehouse, already plotting a course that would converge with Demolisher's destination. Since they'd both been flushed out, there was no point in staying separated. Engine roaring, it took Sideways a moment to notice he wasn't alone, his radar detecting three motorcycles speeding after him. His scanners went right through the triplet riders, and Sideways picked up the pace, knowing more Autobots had just entered the battlefield.

The Audi made another reckless turn down a narrow road, panic fueling his flight. He briefly registered a near collision with another vehicle – had that been an _ice cream_ truck? - before the motorcycle trio transformed and attacked. His shields absorbed most of their shots, but they still stung and they weren't stopping anytime soon. One of the 'Bots latched onto him, and he transformed simply out of instinct, keeping his speed at a dead run. Just the switch from vehicle mode to robot mode had shaken the cycle off of him, but the other two were closing in fast.

His escape route turned out to be a dead end, but he charged forward, scanners seeing a road just on the other side of the building. Sideways launched himself through the second floor without a care towards its inhabitants, glass and bricks exploding around him. The instant he was on the other side, he rolled back down into his alt mode and accelerated as though his life depended on it. He tried not to think about how true that statement probably was.

Much to his dismay, the motorcycle trio had not been deterred in the least. He had hoped they would hang back to check for injured humans, but now that he thought about it, that wouldn't make any sense. They had sent warriors and soldiers after them, not gawking neutrals or medics. Desperate, Sideways laid on the brakes, transforming at the same time and lashing out with his saws. Two of the cycles veered off in time, the third one loosing a wheel to his blade before lurching around him.

Sideways was already burning rubber in his alt mode by the time the other two were back on him, bullets wearing his shields down quickly. On an even terrain, Sideways could outrun them, but the maze like structure of this section of Shanghai put him at a distinct disadvantage. He was fairly lousy at hand to hand combat, and considered himself lucky for having taken out even _one_ of the cycle trio. The plasma rifle he carried would do him no good, and the -

Feeling like an idiot, and remembering he avoided combat mostly because he was terrible at it, Sideways launched a graviton mine behind him. His speed put him out of range just as it activated, but the two cycle 'Bots drove right into its field, collapsing under their own weight. It effects wouldn't last long on such small units, but the delay would give Sideways his window to freedom – and Demolisher.

His elation at successfully defeating three Autobots was cut short when he nearly drove headlong into a unit of military humans. They certainly hadn't been expecting him so soon, as they dropped back in surprise and fear as he roared past them. Beyond them it was clear sailing, and Sideways fancied he could catch up to Demolisher in no time. They had spent so little time apart in past two years that it felt weird not driving in the excavator's shadow.

_No one outruns me_, Sideways reminded himself, even if he had never really been convinced of that. Demolisher had said it to try to bolster his confidence, and Sideways repeated it now in hopes that that theory would pan out. _Keep moving, keep running, don't stop _-

A flash of silver shot around the corner behind him, and several of the humans started yelling and pointing. Panic surged through his systems again, gunning his engine in order to put distance between himself and the new assailant. The Autobot proved to be much, _much_ faster on their wheeled feet, catching up to him in no more than a sparkbeat.

_I don't want to die_, Sideways thought, somewhat uselessly. Fear paralyzed his mind, even as he drove on, giving the Autobot time to open fire on him. The high caliber rounds obliterated the last shreds of his shield, and pain exploded through his systems when the Autobot's blade sunk into his hood. Dozens of emergency warnings flared up on his processors, but he didn't need any of them to tell him the blade had pierced his engine, inches from his spark.

Somewhere in the midst of his pain, a query from Demolisher popped up in his communications console, but he violently shut it out, not wanting him to know -

The Autobot was in front of him now, and Sideways was quickly losing speed. Systems locked in fear and too damaged to let him do much else, Sideways could only watch as the silver Autobot grabbed his blade and then _stopped_.

_Don't want to die_, Sideways thought desperately, even as his own momentum pulled the blade down his frame, causing pain beyond anything he'd ever felt before. _Please no, it hurts oh Primus it hurts it hurts no no don't want to no no NO _-

* * *

Another inconsequential vehicle flew through the air, tossed aside without a care as Demolisher rolled down the highway. Most of them were crushed under his wheels, but trucks or those that were hauling gasoline he swerved around. Or he chucked them off the road, letting them explode and destroy whatever they landed on. It was orchestrated destruction that Demolisher reveled in, two years worth of pent up aggression towards these inferior lifeforms released on an unlucky stretch of road.

The humans had been incapable of following him, caught up in the destruction left in his path and unable to attack him without hitting their civilians. The only things that still dogged him were several helicopters and the damned Autobot, Ironhide. Only he had the skill and reaction time to make it through the devastated highway, but he did not have the speed to bring his cannons into firing range.

With any luck, he could cause enough of a mess to put off the humans entirely, so they would concentrate on aiding their wounded. The Autobots were another matter, but he was confident he could escape once he reached the shoreline. His first major roadblock appeared in the form of an overpass, and rolling over it would slow him down, allowing Ironhide to catch up. Throwing another truck off the road, Demolisher went at the bridge hands first, pulling up the fragile concrete and destroying the entire structure. Vehicles flung off the roadway, several of them striking him harmlessly -

- except the semi that was currently hanging off of his face in the form of none other than Optimus Prime. Demolisher teetered, his balance nearly undone as Prime's weight pulled him to the left and shock slowed his reflexes down. Diverting his attention back to the road before he veered off of it, he took one poorly aimed swat at Prime and missed completely. He was vaguely aware of Ironhide closing in on him, and was already starting to think he wasn't going to make it all that far after all. Not without serious injury, anyway.

Demolisher sent a request out to Sideways, asking for his current status. If he was still hidden, he was going to have to wait until another Decepticon arrived to pull him out. If not, Demolisher would have to order him in the opposite direction just to keep him away from the Autobot leader. No response came, and the second query he sent out was immediately returned; Sideways was blocking him.

"Pull over!" The Autobot leader suddenly barked, having escaped more of Demolisher's distracted swats and succeeding in climbing up on his head. Demolisher responded to that with a furious roar, incensed at the order and the language he was using. Pull over? _Pull over_? Demolisher thought _Sideways_ recited too much human drivel, and here was Prime himself, hawking lines like -

Demolisher was halfway up to grab Prime off when two rounds were fired point blank into his head, ripping through his armor like it wasn't there. Howling in agony, Demolisher's hand finally connected with Prime, but the Autobot was already making a lunge for safety, knowing his target was going down. Demolisher lost his balance entirely, and he pitched off of the highway. He supposed it was just his luck that he hit everything on the way down, pieces of his superstructure snapping off as he hit the ground.

Pushing his arms out to slow himself down, Demolisher finally ground to halt, wires sparking and hydraulic fluid squirting out from a leak under his optic. His other optic no longer functioned, and a quick diagnostic told him more than half of his systems had suffered the same fate in his catastrophic fall. Hearing the footsteps of the approaching Autobots, he made one attempt to pull himself forward, stopping when that caused one of his wheels to disconnect completely.

Demolisher sent another frantic query to Sideways, finding his communications were still being blocked. He couldn't understand why; the block was coming from Sideways, so neither the humans nor the Autobots were interfering with the frequency. Cautiously, Demolisher opened the symbiotic link, expecting a rush of panicked emotions...

Nothing. Empty silence dominated the link, and suddenly Demolisher was a lot less worried about the Autobots. Thousands of years of war and death weighed down on him, and he finally felt _old_, worn down and beaten to nothing. He could not adequately describe how empty Sideways' loss made him feel, just that the ache was far worse then the pain of his injuries. After everything he'd been through, everything he'd survived, endured and learned – and he couldn't save the life of a single 'Con that was under his protection.

The ache of failure went all the way down to his spark. Of course, the Decepticon cause would move on without them, indifferent to his lamentations. But Scavenger, his poor, dear Scavenger would have to remember his life before Demolisher, that split second that separated their creation. Demolisher's frame wilted, good optic dimming as his enemies closed in around him. There were times he had contemplated how he might die, but he had never imagined it would make him feel so helpless and small. At the very least, Sideways had died with Demolisher's link still active.

When he looked up once again, Optimus Prime and Ironhide emerged from the smoke left in his destructive crash, their posture maddeningly casual. Even as death called, Demolisher found it in himself to exact some sort of pain on them, some sort of _fear_ -

"Punkass Decepticon!" Ironhide spat, keeping at least one of his cannons trained on the wounded excavator. Prime cast him a brief glace, before looking down at Demolisher, his expression guarded.

"Any last words?" Prime asked, and his tone was so full of the promise of death that Demolisher almost said nothing, just so it would come sooner.

"This is not your planet to rule," Demolisher said, relishing in the enraged look that crossed Ironhide's face. Surely it would vex any Autobot to be accused of _ruling_ over a species that they claimed to cohabitate with. "The Fallen shall rise again."

A look of concern passed over Prime's face, the warning delivered with the unsettling results that Demolisher had expected. His expression hardened after a moment, and Prime hefted his rifle, saying: "Not today."

There was a second of pain, then none at all, and there never would be again.

* * *

_Two weeks ago, outside of Xi'an, China_

"You know," Sideways said, stirring Demolisher out of his latest attempt at recharging. "I think I'm okay with it."

"With what?" Demolisher asked, hoping for a short answer and knowing he wasn't getting one.

"With the whole... symbiosis thing," the silver 'Con said. "It's not really horrible, like I thought it was going to be. I was expecting it to be more like a parasite sort of -"

"Sideways," Demolisher interrupted. "Symbiotes are mutually beneficial. Parasites are not. Besides, _I'm_ the host. If anyone was going to suffer, it would have been me."

"Yeah, but I would have felt bad," Sideways said, and Demolisher snorted at the silver 'Cons defensive tone. "It's not – I mean, it's not _just_ that."

"Then what is it?" Demolisher sighed, shovel curling in to itself.

"Neither of us actually has to be alone," Sideways said quickly, as if he had to get it out before he lost his nerve. Demolisher said nothing for a moment, considering.

"You're right," he finally said, and Sideways relaxed, relieved Demolisher had agreed with him. Dead End had told Sideways that he would die alone and afraid, after all. Demolisher might not be able to do anything about his fear, but a symbiosis meant neither party was truly alone, no matter how far apart they were.

"Hey, once we reach the city, do you think we could watch _Cloverfield_ again?" Sideways asked, folding down into his alt mode. Demolisher felt a wave of relief at that, knowing that meant the Audi was ready to recharge as well.

"As many times as you want, Sideways," Demolisher said, moving his shovel out of the way as Sideways parked next to him. "As many times as you want."

_End_

_

* * *

_

_A/N: Thank you everyone for reading and for your reviews! If this was too depressing, there are two feel-good short stories posted on my livejournal. They were both meant to be part of this story, but I either couldn't work them in, or I didn't think they'd fit with the overall story. The link is in my profile. Thanks again for reading!_


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